Don’t forget to check our Events Diary for more information on events in all our villages and surrounding area.

CREATON WALKING GROUP

Despite the rain the Creaton Walking Group have managed to stay dry on their walks, well, it hasn't rained, but the ground has certainly been sodden and slippery!

The February walk was over the fields from East Haddon to

Althorp and Holdenby and the group were delighted to welcome 2 new walkers and to have 3 very well-behaved dogs out with them. The food at the Red Lion afterwards was very welcome.

In March the group met again at the Red Lion, but this time in Thornby and walked to West Haddon, Coton and Guilsborough before returning to enjoy the delights of Thornby's lovely pub.

Walks are about 8 miles in length mainly over fields, so if you enjoy rambling across beautiful Northamptonshire come and join the group on the second Saturday of each month. We meet at Creaton lychgate at 10am.

Next walks are on:

Saturday 12th April

Saturday 10th May

Over The Counter - at Creaton Village Shop

Well, it has been a busy start to the year, what with Valentine's Day, St David's Day and Pancake Day all coming fairly quickly. No sooner has one celebration cleared the shelves, then the next one is ready to take over. And it is not just these ‘big’ events that we have to keep our eye on. If you have been following the Shop on Facebook you will see that we have been celebrating Volunteer Week featuring some of our excellent voluntary staff, as well as the start of Crufts, and National Cereal Day (and yes, it is apparently a thing).

So, follow Creaton Village Shop on Facebook for inspirational ideas and impress your friends and family with a meal based on not-so-well-known celebrations. For well-known however, Easter is approaching fast. If you are looking for an Easter gift or want to cook something special, we can help. And have you tried the hot cross buns? They are delicious with butter or cheese.

To add to the onward march of Spring, flowers return to the Shop, supplied by Sue McGlasson. As the Shop stands on Sue’s land, we must beat almost everybody for air miles for some of them!

Volunteers

Volunteer Week saw many of our volunteers photographed whilst working.
John Palmer (left) is one of the longest serving and also organises the rota to ensure that there is someone behind the shop counter from 7:30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, and 8am to midday on Sundays. It is fun and you get to work with some great people.  

Why not come for a taster session? You can ask anyone working in the shop for more details on how to become a volunteer.  

One of our younger helpers, Edie, gives us her view on volunteering:

“Hello - my name is Edie and I've been volunteering at Creaton Shop for just over a year. I started off volunteering for my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and enjoyed it so much that I came back for my Silver.

So, what do I actually do?

Well, once a week, I do an early morning shift baking all the bread and pastries for our Bakery Section here at the shop. If I get a spare moment I also help to stock the shelves and tidy up the storeroom.

What have I gained out of it?

I have really benefited from my volunteering. I have gained lots of confidence from working with new people; improved my teamwork skills and gathered experience that will be very useful when I look for paid employment.

What is working in the shop actually like?

The atmosphere in the shop is very friendly and warm. The customers enjoy their shopping experience and are often found chatting with the till attendants. All of my fellow volunteers are very kind and made me feel welcome when I first started to volunteer.

How do you get to become a volunteer?

Whether you're doing your D of E like me or just looking for a way to help your community, Creaton Shop would love to have you. Just pop into the store and have a chat with one of our staff who will share everything you need to know about how to get started.

We can't wait to welcome you to our team of volunteers!”

Why not come for a taster session? You can ask anyone working in the shop for more details on how to become a volunteer.  

Creaton Singers

The new year has been all change for the Creaton Singers with the arrival of their new musical director Jamie Milburn. The practices get off to an active start with entertaining warm up exercises causing much hilarity. This is followed by learning new songs and ending with a relaxing 10 minutes of well-known numbers. The group have been delighted to welcome new singers who have joined, following a couple of taster sessions.

Come and hear some of the new songs whilst enjoying a delicious cream tea at Creaton in Bloom on Sunday 1st June. Teas will be served in the URC and the Creaton Singers will be entertaining you at 2:30pm and again at 3:30pm

St Michael and All Angels

You may have noticed the huge pile of timber in the church yard! The builders working in the tower discovered that the floorboards and joists in the tower floor were in a very poor state and so have removed them. A new floor will be built with oak floor boards, and this should last for many decades.

The pine panels on the walls of the tower have also been removed because they were badly damaged by damp. The architect has advised us leave exposed the lower part of the tower walls to allow the stone to breathe. The stonework will be cleaned and re-pointed with lime mortar. Once this work is complete new oak cupboards will be installed and the oak and glass tower screen erected.

The restoration work needed in the tower is much more extensive than we had anticipated, and the PCC is extremely grateful to the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Bernard Sunley Foundation for their grants towards this work; and to the late Simon Bown for his generous bequest to help us complete this project.

The PCC apologises that we have to keep the church locked whilst the builders are working in the tower.

The pipe organ has been dismantled and removed to the workshop of Cousans Organs Ltd for restoration. We are really looking forward to hearing our restored organ played for our Easter services.

Creaton WI

We have some very interesting speakers booked for our forthcoming meetings, to which non-members are most welcome:

• April 9th  Geoff Lambert will be
  accompanied by his medical detection dog to tell us all about these amazing, life-saving animals.  
• June 11th  Master Perfumer Beverley Bayne will speak on The Art of Perfumery. Beverley has worked on scents for famous brands including Penhaligon’s and Jasper Conran.
• July 9th  the charity, SERV-OBN, will give an insight into the wonderful work of their volunteer motorcyclists who provide a rapid response, out-of-hours courier service of blood, and other urgently needed products, to hospitals in four local counties, including Northamptonshire.  

Meetings are in the United Reform Church starting at 7.30 p.m.  For more information please contact President, Daphne Clark, 01604 505546 or email wicreaton@gmail.com.

The organ having been removed

HISTORY NOTES

Friends of St Michael History Group

April sees the last of the 24/25 season of Thursday evening talks. This final one, on April 17th, is entitled ‘What have the Puritans ever done for us?’ by John Perkins. Planning is already under way for the new season which starts in September.

Heritage Group

Work on the history of the Church and Creaton continues apace. The Church has been closed for much of March due to the work going on in the tower but it has given some the opportunity to see parts of the building stripped back that may not have seen light of day for a good century and a half.

For pictures and information look at the Creaton Heritage web pages: creatonheritage.wordpress.com

Creaton Old Pictures

This Facebook group has photographs from different periods. An interesting pair of pictures were two of Creaton Cricket Club from the 1950s. To the left one of them is reproduced (click the picture to see it enlarged). Can you add any names? Any match memories?

Bottom row, L-R, 2nd is Eric Pember; 3rd John Pember; 4th Alf Horne; 5th Frank Trussell. Middle row, far right, is John Wright.

Crib Nib