Cople
Welcome to the Cople village web site.
If weave maid any spelling miss steaks or udder errors please let me no, thanks, Ian
What's On Soon
Friday 18th May to Sunday 20th May - Plant Sale - Moggerhanger
Saturday 19th May - Community Litter Pick
Monday 21st May - Parish Council Meeting
Saturday 26th May - Cople Open Church Day
Photos
I have added some pictures from the Bedfordshire v Oxfordshire cricket match played at Cople May 13th 2012. If you know their names please email me and I will update the captions.
New albums have been added to the Cople Photo Albums with photographs from Julie Scherrer and Vaughan Southgate.
The sell-out Friend's dinner and talk by Charlie Porter, "Tales from Wood End", and the first Heritage Open Day for Cople Church. The latter is to be held usually on the last Saturday of each month for six months, this has been a great success.
Community Garden Shortstown
From Caroline Williams, Shortstown Community Garden. 01234 313815/07888 730184. email: shortstowncommunitygarden@gmail.com
I have just started a Community Garden in the area, and am looking for support from residents in the area. The garden I have recently set up in Shortstown, having the use of part of the Shortstown Lower School's plot. I have the backing from BPHA, have set various networks such as on Facebook and also a link with Shortstown Heritage Site. I have also have connections with Mile Road Allotments, Shuttleworth College and Bedford Borough Council, so quite a lot of work has been undertaken.
The land I have is temporary, the school is moving next year. I am therefore looking to grow interest through demostration at the site I have at the moment, in order to form a committee and eventually get funding. I am also looking for a permanent location in the area, this may well be more suited in Cardington or Cople, as finding land near to Shortstown is turning out to be impossible.
My vision is to grow something that is self-funding and pretty much sustainable, and have fairly ambitious goals. Do you think that this is something that the residents might be interested to get involved in? Or would you like to know more about this?
If it is of interest to someone in this area, I would love to hear from you (see above)
Cople Litter Pick
Help clean up Cople
Join the Bedford BC organized litter pick in Cople. Starting from Cople Church on 19th May 2012 at 10am for 2 hours.
All equipment will be provided. Please wear suitable clothing and sturdy footwear.
More details telephone 01234 718276 and Bedford CC web site
Cople Shop, 1923
I received in the post today, kindly sent by Claire in Cornwall, a page from "Green's Stores Grocery Shop, Cople" with the handwritten date of 1923. Claire knows nothing about the orgin of this document or even how she came by it.
It is a list of items and prices for the shop keeper's own consumption.
Thank you Claire for sending it, I have scanned it and added it to the Cople Archive section click here
Cople Church Open Days
All Saints Church Cople will be open to visitors on the last Saturday of each month commencing on the 28th of April until September 29th from 10am until 1pm. The only exception being in June when it will be open to visitors on Sunday the 24th from 2pm to 5pm. That being open Church Sunday an annual event in the Church calendar.
Come along and learn about its history, rub its brasses, climb its tower, ring a bell, buy Trade Craft, tea coffee and cakes and meet some of the Congregation.
Some activities will attract a small charge. All will be welcome. For further information contact Mike Vacher on 01234 831207.
Village Hall web pages
The Cople Village Hall now has its own mini web site
See booking rates, facilities, contact details and photographs. Village Hall is available for hire, discounts offered to Cople residents and regular hires.
Vacancy for Parish Councillor
The Parish of Cople has one casual vacancy in the office of Parish Councillor
Applications in writing for Co-option to the Council to be with the Clerk of the Parish Council by Friday 16 March 2012
The application should be sent in writing to Jeanne Pope, Clerk to the Parish Council, 42 Wingfield Road, Bromham, Bedford, MK43 8JY
Telephone 01234-823297 Email: jhpope@btinternet.com
Charity Shoot
Paul Walsh and Charlie Porter recently came up with the brilliant idea of having a Charity Shoot on their respective farms to raise funds for St John’s Hospice and the Friends of Cople Church.
Help Get High-speed Broadband into Cople
Parts of Cople have a reasonable broadband speed as our telephone exchange (Cardington) is not too far away. Woodlands Close often gets speeds of 6Mb which is good by national standards. However some parts of Cople and large parts of Bedfordshire have a considerably slower broadband line.
Cople Photo Albums
Advance Notice - Road Closure A603 Cople to A421
Proposed temporary road closure – from the junction of Willington Road, Cople to the A603/A421 Interchange anticipated to be in operation from 2000hrs Monday 19th March to 0600hrs Tuesday 20th March 2012.
Advance Notice - Road Closure, Gt Barford Bridge
Proposed temporary road closure – High Street, Great Barford/Barford Road, Blunham
it is anticipated that the closure will be in operation from Monday 6th February to Sunday 18th March 2012, 24 hours a day – specific dates will be advertised locally closer to the time.
Further information from Jason.Holdsworth@bedford.gov.uk 01234 276691
Police 101 Non-Emergency Number
Bedfordshire Police have launched a new number providing people with a new way to get in touch about non-emergency issues. 101 is now the main number to call Bedfordshire Police when it is less urgent than 999
BBC Allocations and Designations Plan
Bedford Borough Council
Allocations and Designations Plan
The consultation for the draft Allocations and Designations Plan was carried out in summer 2010 and Bedford Borough Council received over 4,000 responses which were mostly submitted in paper form. The council is currently preparing for the next round of consultation on the ‘Plan for Submission’ which will commence at the end of September 2011. As part of the consultation process, the council will be sending a notice to those people who submitted a representation on the earlier draft plan advising of the forthcoming consultation arrangements. In order to reduce the cost of printing and posting such a large number of letters, the council is asking that where possible, email addresses are provided to replace postal addresses. If you can help, please contact the planning policy team at bdf@bedford.gov.uk with your name, postal address and email address.
In addition, anyone who thinks that their details may be on the council’s consultation database but doesn’t want to be notified about future stages of this or any other plan can also contact the council at the email address above to have their details removed. Similarly anyone who would like to be added can email the council with their contact details. Letters will of course continue to be sent to those for whom email is not an option.
Sonia Gallaher, Senior Planner
Bedford Borough Council, Room A107, Town Hall, St. Paul’s Square, Bedford, MK40 1SJ
01234 227479 (ext 2479)
Cople Music Festival
Congratulations to everyone that helped to arrange and sponsor the Cople Music Festival, held last week and culminating in the finale on Saturday evening (6th August.) It has obviously been a lot of work.
If anyone has any photos from the events that they would like to share on this web site please do email them to me (click for email address). I would like to set up a page of memories.
Distraction Burglary
The police newsletter has asked everyone to be aware of a distraction burglary with a new twist that took place recently in Milton Ernest
If you live near to an elderly or vulnerable person please take the time to think about who might be calling at their home.
Details on our Police Reports page
You Never Knew This
As part of the Cople Music Festival (July 31st to August 6th -further details to follow) Graham Ebbs has suggested we create a "Things You Never Knew About Cople" page in their programme.
We are looking to you for things to add to this page. Do you know an interesting fact, about or related to Cople, that not many people would know?
For instance: a historical and interesting fact about Cople. Cople in the Domesday book. Cople during the wars. Houses and buildings that exist or no longer exist; the Church; the pubs and shops that have since disappeared. Village locals past and present. Were you once a Cople resident, vicar or publican - where are you now? You have, or once had, an unusual job or pastime. The farms and crops - do any farmers have some interesting local facts and figures? Disasters and triumphs.
Hopefully we will also be able to add this as a permanent web page on this village web site after the festival closes
Please email or post as many contributions as you can, ASAP, to make the Festival Programme deadline
To avoid your email being accidentally deleted as spam please include
the one magic word
COPLEWEB
somewhere in the subject line (NB the magic word has no space)
Whoops! we missed the Proms Programme deadline. Many thanks for the suggestions we have received, I'll create a web page in due course. If you have any more ideas please do email them to me
"Golf" Course and 5th May 2011 Elections
As Cople will only be too aware, a small "golf" course is being constructed to the north west edge of the village.
To many people it looks more like a waste management tip than a golf course. There have been many complaints and possibly not a little council negligence in enforcing the agreed planning restrictions and timetables.
Claire, who has been tirelessly campaigning for Cople over this site, has taken the opportunity to ask John Guthrie, the Conservative candidate for Mayor of Bedford in the 5th May 2011 elections, what he would do about this site should he be elected.
Claire's letter and John Guthrie's reply can be read here
4th May 2011 - Dave Hodgson, the current Mayor of Bedford Borough standing for re-election May 5th 2011 replies to Clares letter and can be read here
If any other candidate would care to respond to Claire's letter I will be happy to add their intentions to this article
Photos Web Site
The photo web site (fotopic.net) I have used for the Cople albums for many years has gone into administration.
At the moment it does not look like it will return. I will begin a search for a new site and retrieve as many pictures as I can.
Meanwhile there are some pictures from Cople on https://picasaweb.google.com/copleorg
Update
Fotopic www.fotopic.net have reappeared with a web page that says the images are safe and they are looking for a method of letting their users retrieve the pictures. No dates offerred. I will wait a while to see what they can offer. Ian, 20th April 2011
Church Brasses
Dr Vaughan Southgate Researches Cople Church Brasses
My e-mail address appears on the Friends’ page and over the years I have had some interesting communications, from within our shores but also from much farther afield, often wanting information about the Church, or long dead relatives buried in the graveyard.
This week I received a request from someone who lives on Vancouver Island in Canada for some photographs of the brasses in the Church which I have taken and passed onto him. He is researching his family history and I enclose some snippets from the many e-mails which have passed between us :-
Get Safe Online
BEWARE: Internet users are being warned about cold callers who offer to fix viruses but then install software to steal personal information.
Never accept these calls and do not follow their advice
Get your own good advice from getsafeonline.org A joint initiative between the Government, law enforcement, leading businesses and the public sector.
Distraction Burglars
The Police would like to make people aware of a number of recent distraction burglaries in Bedfordshire. Click here for more details
Barn Dance 2010
This is the eighth year in succession that a Barn Dance and Hog Roast has been held in the lovely old Dutch Barn at Oak Farm, the home of Heather and Paul Walsh.
The ‘Friends of Cople Church’ have, until this year, staged the event to raise much-needed funds for the upkeep of the church but this year they lent their support to Paul and Heather to raise funds for St. John’s in memory of Heather’s mother, Audrey Green, to acknowledge in some small but practical way the kindness and care she received in the final stages of her illness.
A magnificent sum of £2,500 was raised and thanks must go to all those generous people who attended.
The full story can be found by clicking here
Cople Lower School - Outstanding
Congratulations to all the staff, helpers, governors and pupils of Cople Lower School. In June 2010 Ofsted inspected the school. It has seen improvement in its Ofsted status over many years and now has been classed as an Outstanding School.
This places the school in the top 6% of primary schools in England and Wales.
We can all be very proud of what our village school has achieved. It takes a lot of hard work to reach this standard. We can be sure that it offers the children the very best grounding for their future
At the end of this summer term the head teacher, Joyce Donaldson, retires after 13 years with Cople Lower School. A new Head Teacher will take over the reins in September and will continue Joyce and her team’s fantastic work. The Governors, teachers, pupils and parents of Cople Lower School all wish Joyce well for the future and an enjoyable retirement.
Please Click here for a full copy of the School's press release.
Gypsy and Travellers
The Bedford Borough Council has issued a draft proposal which includes two further
large sites around Cople for gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople.
Further details here
Parish Council
A section has been added to this Cople web site to promote the work of our Parish Council. The council will provide details of minutes, meeting agendas and other items that are of interest to Cople residents.
You will find a permanent link to the Parish Council page in the right hand menu of this page
Next Meeting
Click here for the next meeting date
All members of the Council and local residents are invited to attend.
Your new neighbour
Beware of visitors claiming to be your new neighbour
Ringmaster, the Police information service, has asked that we make residents aware of a distraction burglary alert. Someone is calling on the elderly claiming to be their new neighbour
Other recent warnings...
Vehicle Crime Reduction Continued
Winter Crime Reduction Continued
Cold-callers, surveys and alarms Continued
Five Bells Recycling
The Bedford Borough Council (BBC) wish to inform us the recycling paper bank in the car park at the above location is to be removed. Due to contamination on a regular basis the council will remove this bin in the next 7 - 10 days [this email was dated 11/12/09]. The glass banks will remain on site, this facility is well used and I am pleased to say contamination has never been an issue. Residents are able to place all their paper in their kerbside recycling bin or bag.
BBC recycling information leaflet and collection calendar can be found here
Further information about our local recycling facilities have been provided by BBC and can be found here
Peter Burr's Cople Archive
Organisations
The Cople web site has introduced a new facility to allow Cople clubs and societies to maintain their own set of pages
Cople Argus Cricket Club
The first organisation to "open the batting" is the Cople Argus Cricket Club. Chris Brown, captain, has done an excellent job at creating pages to promote and report the cricket club's details.
Your Club Next?
If you run a Cople group for which you would like to have and maintain one or more pages please do contact me, Ian, here.
You must be prepared to update your pages, when they need it, on a regular basis, e.g. weekly or monthly. There are a few ground rules and a little bit of a learning exercise but once mastered most people who can use the Internet should have no problem doing it.
Local Shops
Willington Post Office
Although Cople has no full time shop of its own the Willington Post Office sells a useful range of basic food, bread, wine, some good-looking fruit and vegetables and newspapers. We urge residents to support the Post Office whenever possible.
Summerhill Farm Shop
Also March 2008 has seen the opening of a new shop in Cardington, Summerhill Farm Shop. Since then Summerhill have earned a good reputation selling salads, vegetables, bread, fruit, meat, cheese and other delicatessen items sourced locally where possible.
Safer Neighbourhood Team
A new web page has been added for the Cople Safer Neighbourhood Team police officer.
Who is your local bobby? When are his/her Cople surgery/walkabouts? Do you know what Ringmaster and Smartwater are? Read about local crime statistics and contact links in the Cople Safer Neighbourhood Team's newsletter here.
We are also including recent, local crime reports on the 'Ringmaster' page. This lists reported crimes in this area and offers advise on how to avoid becoming a victim.
Local weather
Webcam
At the time of writing (May 2012) this Webcam from Ampthill is looking towards Bedford. This is the best (also the only) webcam I can find in this area. This web site also has a good weather station page.
The 17th century ruin in the forground of the webcam image is
Houghton House,
reputedly the inspiration for the ‘House Beautiful’ in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, which is now managed by the
English Heritage
and is free to visit.
Flood Map
Online map from the Environment Agency. Most of Cople seems clear, Water End has a risk from an extreme flood
