Welcome to the Village Link website. We’re a small not for profit organisation staffed by volunteers and cannot justify the expense of an SSL certificate. This certificate is what changes a web address from http to https. Google will soon change how they label sites; instead of labelling sites with a certificate as secure they will label sites without one as insecure. We keep this site as secure as we can and is as secure as it ever has been. Please do not be put off!

Take a little time to browse our pages and discover what goes on where and when in our area. Within our pages you can also find out who does what locally. If you would like to contribute anything to any of our pages, including your favourite picture from where you live in our area, please follow the links on the Contact Us page. We would love to carry all the info for your local club or association and best of all, it’s all for free!

The map on the left is fully navigable plus you can zoom in and out by using the controls in the top left corner and if you view the larger map you can enter street view by dragging the little yellow person onto the map to where you want to view and go for a virtual walk around our streets and lanes.

Saxon Spires Patient Participation Group

Spring 2024

The SSPPG is a collaborative team of Patients and Practice staff, including GPs and Practice Management.  

Our meetings are held quarterly and alternate between Brixworth and Guilsborough Surgeries. We meet to review issues and identify ways of assisting the practice in its effort to improve the services available.  The next meeting is the AGM followed by the regular meeting. It will be held at Guilsborough Surgery on Wednesday 22nd May at 6.30pm. New members are always welcome.

Health Walks will take place on the third Monday of each month. They will last for about 60 mins. The April Walk will meet on Monday 15th April at The Stag, Maidwell NN6 9JA at 11am. The May Walk is on Monday May 20th meeting at Smiths Farm Shop, Chapel Brampton NN6 8AA at 11am. Rosemary Ward will lead the walks.

Covid Boosters will be available from April and will be given by Guilsborough and Brixworth Surgeries to eligible groups. Saxon Spires website will have the details and dates of the sessions offered. www.saxonspires.co.uk

Watch our Saxon Spires Patient Participation Group Facebook page for regular announcement on all activities or for more information drop us an email on ssppg2022@gmail.com or phone 01604 880552

BIRDING NOTES - AN ‘SEO’ WINTER

On October 8th 2023 I was on the beach at Weybourne, Norfolk, scanning the sea and watching a fairly typical array of seabirds and wildfowl passing offshore. After a while I became aware of something different, flying at a higher altitude; I could also see that it was attracting the attention of a group of gulls. This bird continued to beat its way towards the shore and as it grew in the binoculars, I identified it as a Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus. The bird then flew fast and low up across the beach, before landing on the shingle bank very close to a couple who appeared to be sitting enjoying the sea view. They looked surprised at the arrival of this striking predator. The bird didn’t linger, heading off inland after a brief rest. Shortly after, another Short-eared Owl arrived - this one passed parallel to the shoreline before drifting diagonally inland, on a south-westerly track. A quick check of the bird news channels showed that a notable movement of this species was occurring along the east coast of the British Isles. At Holme Dunes in Norfolk an astonishing total of 54 birds were seen flying in off the sea that day, a good indication that 2023-2024 was going to be an invasion winter for this species.

Short-eared Owls are nomadic and may be subject to movements associated with fluctuations in numbers of prey species, especially voles, in their home territories in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. An invasion is always welcome news for birders and wildlife photographers. Short-eared Owls roost together at communal sites and are often active in daylight hours. They are graceful and buoyant flyers:  while hunting they will often execute a stall turn and drop suddenly into long grass as they attempt to capture prey. They will often roost on the ground and may sit tight until flushed, allowing close views as they fly off. At roost sites they will behave gregariously and can also be heard giving a hoarse ‘chee-eff’ call. Their glaring eyes with yellow irises give them a striking facial expression, often described as ‘baleful’.

Short-eared Owls breed in upland parts of the British Isles and can be found all year round, but it is in winter when most people will get a chance to see them as their numbers are boosted by visitors from northern Europe and they disperse to lowland locations. This has certainly been a bumper winter – in fact one of the best in recent memory. Since October I’ve seen them on the Isle of Sheppey, at Stiffkey in Norfolk and – closer to home – in the Brampton Valley and at Harrington Airfield. As spring progresses they will start to return to their breeding territories - many of them making the reverse crossing of the North Sea; as they pass through they may be encountered in a wide variety of open habitats, especially in rough grassland in which they can roost, or hunt their prey.

Jon Cook
joncookbirding.wordpress.com

DATES FOR GARDEN ENTHUSIASTS

OPEN GARDENS:
COTTESBROOKE HALL

Sunday 21st April, see here

GUILSBOROUGH
Sunday 28th April, see here

Plus, Creaton in Bloom takes place Sunday 2nd June, see here and Cold Ashby Open Gardens on Sunday 21st July, more details in the June update.

BROWNIES & BELL RINGING

Guilsborough Brownies joined Merrick Bowles, Julie Woolley and Pauline Jacobs for an evening at the Church. They climbed the belltower and learned about ringing the big church bells. They also played the handbells, led by Pauline Jacobs. Itwas a great evening, enjoyed by all. A big thank you to Merrick, Julie and Pauline.If you are keen to join the bellringers then contact Julie Woolley on 07907 627024 - they need new members! If you have a daughter who might be interested in joining Brownies, then telephone Mary Fowler (Brown Owl) on 01604 740497.

SMARTPHONES AND CHILDREN

Ninety-seven percent of 12 year olds in the UK have a smartphone. As much as aof three to four-year-oldsthe UK have a smartphone! By aged 11, only 17% don’t have one. So what? There is increasing evidence that they can be harmful to youngsters.

As parents, do we give our children access to something that opens the door to porn, bullying, grooming and the anxiety machine that is social media, or do we risk alienating them from their peers? Not an easy situation. A movement has recently sprung up across the UK to support parents faced with this dilemma. If this affects you, there is a resource pack for parents with helpful information and tips here: https://smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk/resources.

Image by pvproductions on Freepik

There is something for everyone at Hollowell Sailing Club! New courses for children and adults now available to book.

Visit www.hollowellsc.org.uk for more information and to reserve spaces today.

Short-eared Owl, Norfolk, March 3rd 2024