Half a House: Reading Room

This is a suggestion, put forward by an ex-Parish Councillor from a local village. We think it deserves consideration.

Convert the Reading Room into a house, for rent at current rates eg £400/month. Allow a young couple in the village to do some of that conversion work - the village funds materials, the young couple fund labour.

Then rent "desres" to said local couple for a 3-5 yr tenure on the understanding that:

News Update - week ending 21/01/11

Just a quick round-up at the end of another busy week.

Social Media Surgery

Warcop will shortly be hosting a Social Media Surgery, thanks to funding from the north of Cumbria. This will be open and free to anyone - and we mean *anyone* to attend in the Village Hall. (Date to be confirmed shortly).

Whether you are on holiday in Eden, a local business, resident, or even from over the border - Yorkshire, Teasdale, Lancashire, you name it - come and learn what social media is all about with us.

We hope this will become a regular feature of the Exchange and SkillSwap so....see you there. Or if you can't make it, we'll see you on Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Digg, Stumbleupon etc!

And if that is all double Dutch, we *really* look forward to seeing you in the Hall so it can be explained and you can save money on phone calls, texts and your Internet usage.

Warcop & Sandford Exchange

These are always held on Saturdays and are becoming quite the social event, as well as being

• an opportunity to support local projects
• buy your Herald and local produce
• find out about local goings on and events
• get information about local services
• organise events
• get together with other like-minded individuals
• drink tea and eat cakes
• gossip!

The dates are (Saturday):

Contributing to this blog

This blog is for the Parish of Warcop, in Eden, Cumbria, which includes Bleatarn, Sandford and Flitholme.

Anyone can contribute, and the more that do so, the better it will become as a resource for all of us.

We are also not shy of our neighbouring parishes, so let us know if you are in Upper Eden and want to share news, events, etc.

You can learn how to use the blog, as well as anything on the Internet (Skype, Facebook, Twitter etc) at Warcop & Sandford Exchange or the Social Media Surgery.

Exchange Dates to follow.......you should come! We have been and they really are worth attending - you never know who you will meet.

Village Hall- reminder to all residents of the Parish

Please submit your comments about the Village Hall as soon as possible.

This Parish needs to work together and to do so it needs your voice.

If you haven't received any info on the village hall proposals, please see Sue Fell or Ray.

The Pub Could be the Hub!

Here's a photo I found of the Chamley Arms on Google.

Let's hope Warcop can take some inspiration from this video...

Pub is the Hub in Cumbria 

English Heritage list the Chamley as a Grade II Listed Building as follows:-

"House, cottage and barn, now an Inn; late C18/early C19 with later additions and alterations. Rendered rubble with rusticated quoins to former house/cottage. Graduated slate roof with stone and brick chimneys; ball finial to west end. 2 storeys, 8 bays overall. Former house/cottage has 2 panelled doors in rusticated surrounds; 3 sashes to ground floor and 4 above, all with glazing bars in stone surrounds; 3 similar sashes to 1st floor of former barn,above two C20 garage doors. Single-storey C20 addition to east end not included."

WANTED in Warcop - your skills!

Warcop needs you!

Have you a skill from your work experience or life experience that you could share?

Are there skills you would like to brush up on or learn? Confused by computers and I.T. or in knots with knitting? Come to the SkillSwap!

Whether it is using a computer or chain saw, making jam, crochet, running a book club, or swapping a lift to Penrith for shopping or the hospital, someone in Warcop needs to know! And you may have the skill they are looking for.

Warcop SkillSwap and Social starts in February. It will fit in with the Warcop & Sandford Exchange - taking place in the Village Halls:

Warcop 12th February
Sandford 12th March
Warcop 9th April
Warcop 11th June
Sandford 9th July
Warcop 13th August
Sandford 10th September
Warcop - 9th October
Sandford - 12th November

See you there!

Cumbrian Community Assets

Cliburn Village Hall springs to mind as an A1 community asset, but there are also Reading Rooms, pubs, shops, and a multitude of projects which may operate below the radar for the majority of the villagers in Cumbria, and particularly in Warcop.

When we first moved to Warcop, the Kids Club, run by Ann, Joan etc was a godsend, and will never be forgotten, by parent or children!

Think about the assets in your village and how they should or could be used to better effect.

In Warcop, since I came here 8 years ago, we have lost (in order) Malcolm Peart's garage, the Reading Room, Michael Gregson's shop, the Post Office, and now the pub is closed.

We are also unable to have a community party on Rushbearing or the Village Green due to insurance costs; yet, we all know that Warcop Rushbearing was one of the highlights of the summer with Cumberland Wrestling, bands, and much more.

Enough is enough. Let's take back our assets and rebuild our communities.

Send in your village hall survey if you haven't already done so. Or go and talk to Sue Fell in the Square (ask here if you need to know where she lives!) so we can keep a Village Hall for future generations.

This year, there is also a Royal Wedding. For one day, we are allowed to party, so let's do so! Warcop has a great village and community spirit. We have a village green on which to party, and committees galore who can pull something really great together so that next year in 2012 and for many years beyond, with or without a Royal Wedding, Warcop can hold yet more duck races, BBQs, Cumberland Wrestling or Tae Kwondo tournaments, crochet competitions, a Village Show, Old Tyme Dance and Disco, and a little bit of something to suit everyone.

Think about it!

News about the Chamley Arms

This letter was sent out to everyone on the Friends of Warcop Pub e-mail list on 12/10/11:

Happy New Year to all!

A letter has been received by Friends of Warcop Pub dated 11/01/11 from Mark Frankland, owner of the Chamley Arms, in response to our letter dated 16/10/09.

He confirms that the current tenant has given up the business, and he considers that there is little chance of it re-opening and trading in its present format.

He states that planning permission will once again be applied for on the bases (sic) that the pub is not viable, not trading, but keeping the village pub aspect in the hope that the site will once again become a viable proposition if planning were to be granted, and in which case, he would be prepared to offer the Village Pub aspect to the community as outlined in the Government Community Bills.

At the same time the Chamley Arms is to be put up for sale after a valuation, but before doing this, the freehold is being offered to the village at a price of £250,000. He states that this is the minimum price he is prepared to accept based on the purchase price and their losses at the premises.

Further to this letter, the Parish Council meeting on Monday was informed that an offer has been made to the Parish Council to purchase the pub on behalf of the village. In light of this letter, discussions will be ongoing about this option. Several people have also come forward with an interest in managing different aspects of the business, which is also good news.

There are likely to be views and opinions about the contents of this letter, and actions to be taken in the coming months, so a FOWP meeting will be called shortly. However, other meetings were already booked with concerned parties in the next fortnight before the arrival of this letter. It would be preferable to see the outcome of those before a public meeting is called, particularly as these meetings concern funding and ownership options already available to Warcop.

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It has taken 18 months to reach this stage. Stage 2 may not be as quick as many in the village would hope; I think all of us want to see the doors open again and a new era for the Chamley Arms. So to inspire you, watch this video from Pub is the Hub, all about Cumbrian pubs that are succeeding as community concerns.

There are plenty of ideas to choose from for helping to rejuvenate the pub, so let's get our thinking hats on!

Online Village Newsletter & Events

The first 2011 Parish Council meeting for Warcop, and the Warcop & Sandford Exchange, have now been held, so shortly we will be issuing the first 2011 newsletter.

We intend to update the Parish about the pub, village hall survey, Gipsy Fair plans, Exchange dates, and more so if you have anything to add before publication, please let us know.

Events, for sale items, etc, please just post here on the blog, or give unwanted items away on Freegle.

Thanks!

Notes:

Upcoming Event: Broadband and Localism Event in Carlisle this Saturday. Car share available from Warcop.

Websites to check: BroadbandCumbria.com - for a lively debate about how Cumbria should be facing the Next Generation Broadband issue, community engagement and support, networking and the latest news from the IT world.

Skills

It seems there is some money to do the feasibility study for eco energy generation. (Approx £25k). If you are interested in getting Warcop close to self-sufficiency and are also interested in helping with the data centre, please get in touch.

Sunday 7pm, village hall, Tuesday 7pm village hall.

The Chamley Arms, Warcop, has (temporarily) closed its doors

The notice on the door tonight, and the piece in today's Herald could leave you thinking that this is another dying rural community.

But Warcop doesn't just give up like that. Warcop has an astounding history. Even offcumeduns are proud of it.

Warcop has had up to 5 pubs in its time, a ropemaker, tailors, haberdashers, grocers, engineers and more. Its history is preserved and cherished by Michael Gregson, whose family for years have kept more than just an anecdotal archive of this village's quite incredible history. You can enjoy a taste of it for yourself in the village archive, and having been there recently, we can guarantee you won't be easily satisfied with a single visit!

This village has a heart. It might not be instantly obvious if you drive through but it's unavoidable once you have been caught up in Warcop's charms. Even Andy Goldsworthy, who learnt his skills on the Warcop village landscape as a tentative gardener, was captured and paid his apprenticeship back by leaving a substantial legacy to the village in the form of a much-appreciated and well-visited pinfold.

You cannot live here and not love the place. It may not be easy, but once you are accepted, this unique Cumbrian village offers a perspective that no other can. In the recent snows of the last two winters, the local farmers kept the roads clear. Whilst this may seem a minimal task to an outsider, there are actually profound reasons to do so - midwifes and doctors can get to their patients, farmers can reach their flocks and cattle, children can arrive at school, each and every person in the village can get to work, wherever that may be.

We all know that this village has little to offer in the way of work, now or in the future, but we can help those who have been offered a living in Eden Valley; they have a chance to attend their jobs, the kids have an opportunity to learn, and everyone has that really simple choice - out or in! Our kids can at the very least get across the beck or the Eden to catch the bus, because our community WORKS.

Snow?! Pah. Our village hasn't been snowed in for yonks. And when it floods, it needs to be really deep before you can't get out.

So, give up on our pub? Don't expect us to give in easily. Or at all.

Skills Share!

We're trying to get a IT skills share etc going in the village & a meeting arranged to discuss this & other matters about starting the Old Mill up.

I've been having a think about my skills to share:-

Julie's Skills to share:-

1. Financial Planning advice including retirement, investments, mortgage & debt advice. Care Fees & protection. I’m a trustworthy IFA. Complete MOT of your finances on offer! Also cash flow planning ie when will you run out of money?
2. Bookkeeping – part qualified CIMA Accountant.
   
3. IT Skills – to share with others
4. Laminating (wipe clean coating) for A4 posters etc
5. Cooking – dinners, lunches, baking etc
6. Cooking, Cleaning, washing, ironing, sewing on buttons – good at getting somewhere organised. Home help. Eco cleaning! Can change fuses & plugs etc.
7. Driver with car – Shopping or can car share for trip to Penrith etc
8. Professional carpet cleaning.
9. Eco clean advice – You don’t need to use all those dangerous & expensive chemicals!
10. Bird watching Walks – I used to work for the RSPB as a volunteer.
11. B & B or Rent a spare room by the night or week etc.

Wish List

1. Tap in bathroom fixing properly.
2. Fitting of a Woodburner & plumbing in off back boiler possibly
3. Mill laid clearance – I need a hand & to borrow some fishing waders.
4. Replacing new light fittings in hall.
5. Need a Wood store and storm porch

Can we work something out?

Wintry Warcop!!

It's getting worse as well!