Cyberbarn Visit by Rory Stewart MP & Guests today

Cyberbarn is to be visited this afternoon by Rory Stewart MP and guests to offer their seal of approval. It was hoped he'd be the first to dig some fibre optic cable for Bleatarn, but not sure the snow will allow!

More to follow.......................

Latest planning applications for the pub

The new plans for the conversion of the pub are now online at www.eden.gov.uk application numbers 11/0848 and 11/0849

There is a plan to hold a public meeting for villagers in the near future, details to be announced shortly.

Eden District Council Development Control Visit

Monday 21st November, 11am at the Chamley Arms. Villagers welcome to attend to see what work has been done and air their views with the Planning Enforcement Officer, Adam McNally about listed building consent, conversion, planning applications submitted and refused for the pub, etc.

Warcop Newsletter

Over the coming days, we will be putting together a printed newsletter detailing all meetings and events through to the end of the year, and news from the many organisations and groups in Warcop. This is to ensure that all events and groups receive maximum support from residents and local businesses.

The printed newsletter will be going through every door in Warcop and Bleatarn shortly - volunteers for letterbox stuffing welcomed. If you have any news you want adding, we are looking for short and snappy details

e.g. Christmas Quiz, Village Hall, time and date.

so that the maximum information can be fitted onto a sheet of A4.

Currently, we have no information for Sandford and we would like this to be Parish-wide if possible in future.

Please let Caroline Shaw or the Cyberbarn or the blog know if you have anything to add.

(Thanks to Caroline for an impressive memory and knowledge of the village for helping to make this happen!)

VIllage SOS - We're through to the next round of the competion!

WREG page has been updated.

Please click on the tab for news regarding entry to Village SOS

Warcop Pub - page updated

Click on the tab.

Cyberbarn - Opened by Jeremy Hunt!

We've had to keep a little quiet about this for the last three days, but the Cyberbarn has now been officially opened, from a distance, by Jeremy Hunt, Minister of Culture, Media and Sport.  We hope Warcop might make the Herald this weekend, but meanwhile, it's definitely here on Cumbria Crack and also on 5tth with the videos of the Minister and Lindsey.

As ever, the Minister's schedule had been squished into a nanosecond before he had to move on to Carlisle to celebrate the Olympics and sport, which was his true motivation for the visit to the region. Warcop Cyberbarn has, at least, been recognised by Westminster during this visit, and for that we have to thank Rory Stewart for bringing the Minister to meet East Cumbria Community Broadband Forum, which represents 26 parishes.

Just to reiterate - the Cyberbarn is open Mon, Wed, Fri, 1-7pm. Each visit you make, even if just for a coffee, helps. And we really want you to understand what you can do with technology. It might be a security solution, such as CCTv. It could be in reducing your fuel bills. It could be overcoming the hurdles of uploading videos, removing red eye from digital photos, or how to input that cow passport.

Whatever it is, drop in and give it a go! And tell others to call in too.

Warcop Village Hall Event Monday 14th November 2011

Lords and especially Ladies...

After a succesfull event held in Warcop village hall Monday there is another event planned next Monday making cake decorations for the festive season.

Caroline or Pat have more details until I get back home.

Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night

Rumours are landing here that there is a kids' Hallowe'en party next Monday at the Chamley Arms from 6pm. Turn up on your broomstick and be prepared for spooky games and frightening food......

For the grown-ups, this might be a chance to take stock of what exactly is happening at the pub and to ask just who are the ghouls and ghosts in all of the ongoing saga!

Cyberbarn - Get ONline!

The lights are on! Next, we will be adding a little of the IT factor, and we would appreciate your contributions during Get ONline Week. All we are asking is one hour of your time from 31st October to 6th November.

We would like everyone to draw an animal - preferably on a computer - so we can print it out and decorate the Cyberbarn with the help of Warcop, Sandford, Bleatarn and Upper Eden residents.

And if you are already a Photoshop whizz, a digital camera expert or you can wiggle a mouse in Paint, why not drop up and offer your help?!

Cyberbarn news

The purchase of the portakabin to go in the Cyberbarn was completed today and it will arrive on Thursday. All the funding for fitting it out with ICT equipment, desks, chairs, greenscreen video software etc is already in the bank, and we hope to have the doors open for Get Online week at the end of October, beginning of November. (Note to burglars - no equipment of any value will EVER be kept in the Cyberbarn overnight).

Everyone is welcome to come and learn how to get online, to enjoy access to the UK Online courses -beginners to advanced, to ask questions about using your computer, laptop, smartphone or any other device, and to tell/ask us what you would like to know about ICT. Whether it is how to remove red eyes from a digital photo, upload a Youtube video, or customise your computer so it glows in the dark - come and ask!

There are currently problems with Cumbria County Council and CLEO (now run by BT) in getting a superfast broadband connection from the school to the Barn, but as there is no logical reason for any hurdles being placed in the way of Warcop's Online Learning Centre being connected, we are now escalating this to the Prime Minister, associated Govt departments, UK Online, Cumbria County Councillors, and the press, to ensure that common sense is applied to make something extremely simple happen in Warcop.

The Cyberbarn is a Big Society initiative and obstructive public and private sector players are precisely those that such projects have been encouraged to displace to see forward motion in rural areas such as ours. Especially when the community and many organisations have already shown support for this project, and others directly associated with it, to make miracles happen now and in the future in our village.

Videos, photos etc will shortly be posted of the Cyberbarn set up and we look forward to welcoming you there. We will be arranging visits to the Cyberbarn for all residents, young and old, over the coming weeks so please do not be shy in asking for a lift up to visit us if you don't fancy the stroll.

This Blog, the Parish and the police

This website was set up in order to keep people informed about events and news in the parish of Warcop.

It was not set up so that people could write libellous comments, make accusations against village residents, or write malicious gossip. Accusations of wrongdoing etc should be directed through the appropriate channels viz the police.

Due to recent comments made on this blog, I have received a call (in Holland) this evening that means any information available to us as administrators of this blog, including traceable IP addresses, will be freely shared with the police investigating the Chamley Arms burglary, or any other Warcop Parish matter, as required.

On Monday last at the Parish Council meeting, we celebrated Linda, Joyce and Barbara's staggering 52 years of service to the village. Too many people have given untold hours to try very hard to keep Warcop on track over the years for any individual to be permitted to derail those efforts for this community. Both Julie and I will do our best to prevent this website being used in such a way in future.

Thank you - Lindsey and Julie

Chamley Arms Now Open.

The Chamley Arms re-opened a while ago but the phone line is still down due to renovations.

Now open for food also, details and to book by email, please visit http://www.chamleyarms.co.uk/


Update:

Apparently the Chamley Arms is no longer serving meals, just a few snacks and the dining room is closed currently.

If anyone knows anything different, please comment to update everyone.

Parish Council Agenda for 10th October 2011

A Meeting of Warcop Parish Council will be held on Monday 10^th October 2011 at 7.30pm in Warcop Village Hall.

AGENDA

1. Apologies for absence
2. Minutes of the last meeting to be approved
3. Matters arising
4. Public Session – Presentation to former Councillors
5. Travellers
6. Finance
   1. To consider payments
7. Highways Report
8. Big Society/#cyber Café/New Village Hall/ Broadband
9. Chairman/Deputy Chairman/Calender for meetings
10. Report back from meetings attended
11. Community Issues
    1. Permissive Footpath update
    2. Planning
12. Correspondence
13. Councillors reports & items for future agenda
14. Date & Time of next meeting

Yours sincerely

Heidi Strong (Clerk to Warcop Parish Council)

To: All Parish Councillors:- Mr W J Heron Mr T Dent Mr G Deighton Mr J Evans Miss L Annison Mrs J Donaldson – Allen Mrs A Daldry and District Councillor W Patterson for information and for publication on all Parish Notice Boards.

White Saxo

There is a white Saxo that is being driven around the village at all hours, inappropriately.

It has been reported to us over the last few weeks on several occasions, and we have now been asked to mention here that the number plate is on record.

The number of complaints against this driver (who is, we understand, from Penrith) will shortly mean that a tug from the police is highly likely. #justsaying

Warcop Fuel Buying Group - action required

Rural residents are being urged to set up fuel buying groups and this has already been proposed in Warcop by Julie Bayley. However, we need to act now to get the best prices before winter arrives.

There is a very good document and information about Oil Buying Groups on the Rural Services Network.

It is likely that there are already people in our community keeping a close eye on prices who can advise the best time to buy, as well as having established relationships with suppliers which may improve the discounts.

http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/Community/How-to-save-money-on-heating-oil.html 

Every penny saved will help all of us who rely on heating oil, so the sooner we begin to buy in bulk, the better!

Could anyone interested in joining such a scheme please get in touch with Julie at the Old Mill? (opposite the Chamley and beneath what was Dowson's Electrical workshop) Tel: 42875.

More contributors required

There are still only five of us writing content for the village website, which means that unless one of us knows about an event, a news story or something of interest to the parish, it does not get added to the site.

It is a simple task to add content because you only need to type the text into a box and click submit for it to appear on the site. Adding photos is also an easy task, so we would like to encourage more people to come forward and contribute. It takes literally 5 minutes to show you what to do so you can add news, events etc from anywhere you can get online, when you choose.

We are increasing the numbers of readers from outside the Parish too by also using Twitter and Facebook to get the word out about Warcop and Sandford, so more content would be great.

I'd like to welcome our new young blogger, Chelsea Venning, who will be writing about the exciting Dream Scheme programme, as well as the many other things that this young Warcopian is involved in for the young people of our County.

Warcop's FibreWalk in the Herald

From Section 2 of the Cumberland and Westmorland Herald 24th September:

Above: Freddy Markham, armed with laptop, and other enthusiasts prepare to board the 1946 Leyland bus.

Changes to Local Planning

Upper Eden is seeking to adopt neighbourhood planning policies for the future which are directly relevant to our community and the needs of this area.

There is a consultation document available online on the UECP website and everyone is asked to respond with their views about the proposed policies as soon as possible. These policies affect many aspects of our lives and will help to ensure that Upper Eden has planning policies to fit the actuality of life here and our requirements, now and in the future.

The links are here:

Upper Eden Community Partnership - http://www.uecp.org.uk
Survey - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UENPresponse
UECP on Twitter - https://twitter.com/#!/UpperEden
UECP on LinkedIn - http://linkd.in/oCZENI

Warcop Village Hall and Reading Room Newsletter

The following newsletter has been distributed around the Parish to bring everyone up to date with the plans and progress with the Village Hall and Reading Room.

Successful FibreWalk

More than 20 people joined us yesterday to walk around the village and discuss the challenges and benefits of fibre optic broadband in rural areas. The weather just about behaved itself, and now many of the photos and videos from the day are online here http://storify.com/johnpopham/fibre-walk

It was a very successful event, sponsored by ITS Technology, and I hope that over the coming weeks Warcop will be hearing more about what is happening as plans are finalised and formalised. Thanks to John Heron, Richard and Liz Wynn for accompanying the attendees, who came from as far afield as Northumberland, Surrey and Minnesota in the USA. Also a big thanks to Darren at the Chamley Arms for laying on a great spread and offering warm (and dry!) hospitality to everyone after the Walk.

Videos of the event filmed by John Popham

Photos of the Walk

The Storify of the Fibrewalk and colloquium

More on Twitter under the hashtag #Fibrewalk

Cyberbarn - Front page of the Herald

I've read this out loud twice today already to people in Warcop. Whilst cheering. It's such good news!

However, it has dawned on me that both the journalist and I may know too much about the subject - does it make sense what we have here now? If not, the new Cyberbarn really needs you to get involved.

You may hate computers and not see why they are needed. Please tell us why. You may love them ,but they never work as you wish. Please get in touch so we can help you and you can help us Do IT.

Village SOS

Has anyone any intention of signing up for Village SOS? Please get in touch urgently with the Parish Council if you are.

http://www.villagesos.org.uk/

There is LESS THAN ONE MONTH TO APPLY but we can only make one application per village.

Needed: someone who feels artistic!

If you fancy getting into big art for the benefit of the village, please contact Julie or Lindsey asap.

Whatever your skills, please let us know because it seems to us that Warcop needs a huge variety of people to get involved now in the many projects that are ongoing.

If all you can do is doodle whilst on the telephone, that might be what we need!

FibreWalk Colloquium

On Friday, 16th September, there is a FibreWalk Colloquium event. This is an informal yet informative walking 'conference', which begins at 1.30pm in Kirkby Stephen. The attendees, which include the American, Donny Smith from Minnesota, who is one of the world's leading rural broadband network builders, will be getting a Cumbria Classic Coaches bus to Warcop to begin a 1 mile walk through the village.

We will be looking at and discussing all the issues surrounding rural broadband, in particular when laying fibre optics through rural villages and countryside. Cumbria has £17.1M (shortly to increase to £23M) to spend on resolving this problem, and Warcop is taking up the challenge to be one of the first parishes to do so.

Villagers are welcome to join us. We know it will be muddy. We know it will probably rain. But we hope that by understanding some of the issues, the parishioners of Warcop will begin to see how this village can achieve the seeming impossible where the telcos are failing, and put in a telecommunications infrastructure fit for the next generations.

"Do it once and do it right" is the aim.

Warcop & Sandford Exchange

Saturday 10th September 10-12 noon in Warcop Village Hall.

Produce exchange - do you have any surplus produce from your garden? Perhaps a few too many fruit and vegetables for you to consumer by yourself? Or some plants that need thinning out? Other people in the community may benefit from your surplus produce. Bring along to the exchange or advertise at the exchange for people to come and collect.

Free range eggs. Bargain toilet rolls 4 Andrex Velvet for £1.50.

Book & Toy Exchange.

Tea, coffee, biscuits and lively conversation.

Funding for Warcop's Cyberbarn has been awarded

We have just heard that, through the Upper Eden Community Partnership, we have been awarded £5000 to open a UK Online Outreach Centre in the Parish. This is fantastic news for Warcop and brings with it additional benefits in improving broadband for the whole village.

Work has been ongoing for several months to make this possible and we start this Friday with the route planning for a fast connection to the Cyberbarn.  We will be laying a fibre optic cable through the village, which could be used in future to connect Warcop parish homes to much faster and more stable next generation fibre optic broadband. We hope the Cyberbarn will be open and operational within weeks rather than months and that the village will support this unique and exciting project.

More news shortly!

Parish Council

22nd August 7.30pm - click on the link for agenda and minutes of previous meetings

Warcop Village Treasure Hunt

There is a Treasure hunt next Tuesday 23rd August, taking place round Warcop

Meet 6pm at Village Hall £2 in aid of village hall funds.

Social Media Surgery

(N.B. This is one of those posts where the links are everything. Click on 'em!)

I've just returned from a day at the Great Yorkshire Show running a Social Media Surgery on the Country and Landowner's Business Association stand as a 'surgeon' with John Popham (who may be best known for #twicket in Wray but deserves far more recognition), Paul Webster aka @watfordgap from Retford/Nottingham, @grahamrichards from Harrogate but active in Richmond and Lower Wensleydale area, and @MonicaTailor from Leeds/Harrogate. Exhausting but exhilarating!

Where's the fire?!

Spotted on a summer's day in July as we were rushing to Penrith. Sadly, there simply was not time to discover all the details of this vehicle and what is needed is another visit to conduct an interview with the owner at Woodbine Cottage.

Maybe someone else would like to take the opportunity to ask a few questions of a neighbour? It would help if others in the village became involved in the website as we continue to ramp up community activities. And you never know what you might learn!

Here are a few of the questions we would ask:

What make, model and year is the vehicle?
How did it come into the owner's possession?
What is its history?
What other vehicles are owned?
How long has the owner lived in Warcop?
Where did the family live previously?
Why Warcop?
Any thoughts about the village you would care to share?

And please, if you would like to interview people around the village, we have a digital recorder, digital cameras, paper, pens, and much more we are willing to lend to discover a few snippets about the fascinating people of Warcop... please volunteer to help build a community website we can all value.

Red Squirrels Nursery

Red squirrels nursery on the Warcop school site is filling up fast for September, if you would like a place or to come and visit please contact Caroline on 01768341472 or e-mail, redsquirrelsn-at-yahoodotcodotuk (Replace the at and dots!). Available from 2-5 years.
From 3 years we can offer wrap around care from 8-5.30. We link with Warcop children's club.

Warcop Children's Club

Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the summer holidays why not join Warcop children's club. We have swimming planned along with a visit to the fire station and the mountain rescue hut. We will be doing outdoor sports and also have time to just chill with friends. Age 3-14.

Broadband for the Parish and Beyond

As many of you will have already seen, Cumbria has been awarded £16.8M for the next generation of broadband. Some of this, and other funds, is due to be spent on community broadband projects.

As Warcop Parish representative of East Cumbria Community Broadband Forum, I was invited to attend the Broadband Industry Day at Stoneybeck Inn on Friday last, and spoke at length with Mike Kiely of BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) as well as representatives of Cumbria County Council.

Due to a rapidly approaching funding deadline, Warcop will be submitting two outline proposals for fibre optic broadband, and will follow these up with a public meeting for the parish to refine these and align them closely to the community needs. The last two days have seen a flurry of activity in and around the Parish to establish what will be possible as a first phase and we have got in principle agreements for future-proofed plans to begin ASAP, dependent on some more conversations with external parties.

For those who have not been involved in the discussions to date, (15 years long for me!), this may not be the appropriate place to bring you up to speed (scuse the pun) with all that has been going on and what Warcop will be able to do. Suffice to say that if you are interested in better connectivity, improved mobile coverage and a chance to bring new jobs to the area, please stay tuned and please, please, please come and knock on my door at Croft House on Brookside if you are a resident of Upper Eden and would like to talk about the broadband plans.

If you are a landowner in the area and I have not yet seen you, please do get in touch. We may need access to your land and would like to discuss this with you at the earliest opportunity. Maps will be available shortly, both online and in print, that will show the proposed routes for the fibre optic dig. There will be opportunities for many to get involved and to be paid for their involvement so if you have a mole plough, digger or a spade, we may need your muscle!

Please keep an eye on the notice boards and this website for more news, dates of meetings and so on. There will be full updates given at the next Parish Council meeting on August 22nd.

Broadband for the Parish and Beyond

As many of you will have already seen, Cumbria has been awarded £16.8M for the next generation of broadband. Some of this, and other funds, is due to be spent on community broadband projects.

As Warcop Parish representative of East Cumbria Community Broadband Forum, I was invited to attend the Broadband Industry Day at Stoneybeck Inn on Friday last, and spoke at length with Mike Kiely of BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) as well as representatives of Cumbria County Council.

Due to a rapidly approaching funding deadline, Warcop will be submitting two outline proposals for fibre optic broadband, and will follow these up with a public meeting for the parish to refine these and align them closely to the community needs. The last two days have seen a flurry of activity in and around the Parish to establish what will be possible as a first phase and we have got in principle agreements for future-proofed plans to begin ASAP, dependent on some more conversations with external parties.

For those who have not been involved in the discussions to date, (15 years long for me!), this may not be the appropriate place to bring you up to speed (scuse the pun) with all that has been going on and what Warcop will be able to do. Suffice to say that if you are interested in better connectivity, improved mobile coverage and a chance to bring new jobs to the area, please stay tuned and please, please, please come and knock on my door at Croft House on Brookside if you are a resident of Upper Eden and would like to talk about the broadband plans.

If you are a landowner in the area and I have not yet seen you, please do get in touch. We may need access to your land and would like to discuss this with you at the earliest opportunity. Maps will be available shortly, both online and in print, that will show the proposed routes for the fibre optic dig. There will be opportunities for many to get involved and to be paid for their involvement so if you have a mole plough, digger or a spade, we may need your muscle!

Please keep an eye on the notice boards and this website for more news, dates of meetings and so on. There will be full updates given at the next Parish Council meeting on August 22nd.

The Chamley Arms

It is difficult to ignore the ongoing works in the pub. We have therefore, as Friends of Warcop Pub, sought expert legal advice on behalf of the village, as we were mandated to do by the village.

The Pub 'tab' is back. We will update you via that page as is appropriate.

Comments will be left open and unmoderated, as we feel it is a valuable mechanism for expression of open views by any visitor to the website. Please be aware therefore that your opinions can be read and recorded by ANYONE. A full record of all dialogue via this website to date is available from the Parish Council.

Warcop Parish Council

WARCOP PARISH COUNCIL

PARISH COUNCILLORS


Chairman:
John Heron
Brooklyn, Warcop

Gordon Deighton
Orchard Farm, Bleatarn

Lindsey Annison
Croft House, Warcop

Jeffrey Evans
Ghyll Bank, Warcop Tower Court, Warcop

Jane Donaldson-Allen, Flitholme

Upper Eden Neighbourhood Plan

As one of the Big Society vanguard areas, and in tandem with the Localism bill, Upper Eden has to develop planning policies for a Neighbourhood Plan for the area. All Parish Councils and residents are being asked to respond.

Broadly, these cover:

• Housing that is affordable and suitable for local people in rural areas
• Housing on farms and for rural businesses
• Housing for the elderly
• Housing densities that are suitable for the area
• Helping to deliver Broadband Internet Access through planning policy
• Monitoring and managing development to prevent over-development

Warcop is being asked to respond and we are therefore asking everyone with an interest in housing and broadband, now and in the future, to take a moment to read the attached documents and respond via the Parish Council or on this website.

Thank you

Parish Letter PDF to download

Issues and Consultation PDF to download

Parish Council Agenda - 6th June

7.30pm Village Hall

AGENDA

1) Apologies for absence
2) Minutes of the last meeting to be approved
3) Matters arising
4) Public Session
5) Travellers
6) Finance
a) To consider payments
7) Appointment of Highways Representative
8) Co-option of Parish Councillor
9) Report back from Meetings Attended
10) Community Issues
a) Permissive Footpath update
b) Parish Land
c) Planning
11) Correspondence
12) Councillors Reports and items for future agenda
13) Date & Time of next meeting

Please note the public session will be approximately 5-10 minutes only.

Appleby Fair and Warcop Public Meeting

A public meeting about Warcop and Sandford's arrangements for next year's Fair will be called by the Parish Council after a debrief with the police and other agencies about this year's event.

If anyone has any feedback, comments or issues to raise, please contact a Parish Councillor so that everything can be included in our report.

Parish Council Meeting 6th June

The next Parish Council meeting will be next Monday, 6th June at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

We are still looking for residents in Sandford and Coupland Beck to be co-opted onto the Parish Council to provide representation for all areas of the Parish. It is important that the whole Parish has voices on the Parish Council if decisions are to be made which are best for the Parish.

Please contact any of the Parish Councillors if you would be interested and/or attend the meeting next Monday.

Festival of Warcop Life

The Festival of Warcop Life will be held in the Methodist Chapel on 2nd and 3rd July and will feature exhibitions by the groups active in the area.

Saturday 10am - 4pm and Sunday 12pm - 4pm.

Come and see what is going on in our Parish, meet those involved, contribute by getting involved, and enjoy the cream teas offered! Donations will be in aid of Warcop Methodist Chapel and the Air Ambulance.

Appleby Fair Policing via Twitter

It has been an interesting evening, with two Police Sergeants dispatched from Ravenstonedale to Warcop to help clarify the policing arrangements for the following days after a short conversation on Twitter with the Deputy Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary and the Chairman of the Cumbrian Police Federation.

Twitter, as you may or may not know, is a micro-communication tool, similar to text messaging, that allows messages of up to 140 characters to be sent to single or multiple recipients over the Internet. No conversation is long! Whilst Twitter is frequently dismissed as trivial, those who use it regularly know that it can bring untold levels of information, news, and contacts that are difficult to obtain by any other means.

The recent uptake of Twitter as a customer services tool by businesses and local government has meant that it is currently far easier to reach people in charge in our government departments, and who can make decisions or provide information than has previously been possible. However, I wasn't quite expecting to reach the DCC in one small step!

I discovered on a trip to Kirkby Stephen police station earlier today that the station was well and truly closed.

I needed to contact Roly Earl, not the Helpline, and I tweeted the photo that highlighted my predicament. Shortly afterwards, the DCC of Cumbria, affectionately known as 'Big Stu' picked it up and within very little time, it had been passed on to other Police officials, who put me in touch with the right people to answer my queries. By sending them down from Cote Moor to my door within under 40 minutes!

Whilst there will undoubtedly be questions asked about policing of the Fair after the event, however it goes, at this point in time it is hats off to Cumbria Constabulary for adopting the Internet, making great use of it, sending friendly and helpful staff, who will ensure that the required email will be received when the day shift come on duty.

Am suitably impressed!

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Warcop Parish Hall Village Survey Report

 Libby has asked me to post this on the Blog for everyone to have a read through.


Warcop Parish Hall Village Survey Report


I (Julie) was fortunate enough to be invited to Gamblesby Village Hall near Lazonby last week as part of CAFS renewable energy site visits and it's a really fantastic example of what can be achieved. The Hall has been refurbished and extended and is now powered by a small wind turbine and a ground source heat pump. It's a real community asset! EST case Study

Warcop Children's Club

Warcop Children's Club is now linked from our Blog List (in the right hand column) as well as from this post.

Warcop Children's Club was established 3 years ago to help support those who need out of hours and holiday childcare, and is run from the Primary School premises. Fundraising to support this vital initiative is ongoing and the voluntary management team need your support, so please do help by attending all of their events so this club can continue to provide fun for children aged 3-14 years. (Read all about the Warcop Children's Club activities here).

Red Squirrels Nursery for children aged 2-5 is also going from strength to strength, and numbers at Warcop school, both during schooltime and after hours, are on the up, which is great news for the village.

Blogger has been offline

We have been unable to update the website/blog for Warcop for a day. The image shows why.

So, apologies but it really was out of our control. Blame Google!

The village website is being updated as regularly as we can, with info we receive from those who live in the Parish. We are very pleased to hear from all of you that you like the site, and next week we are training more editors who will take control of certain sections of the site - school, Parish Council etc.

We are happy to add links to other websites within the Parish and also to help those with websites make them far more effective in promoting businesses and organisations in the Parish of Warcop. Please get in touch if you are having problems updating your websites, or with photos, calendars etc.

We need Warcop to show the world what we are capable of, particularly in the run up to Appleby Fair.

Reminder: the next Parish Council meeting is 6th June. The travellers will still be here so your views will be more than welcome. Rory Stewart has been invited to the meeting.

Parish Council

Due to the lack of candidates for the Parish Council, no election was held on 5th May. At the meeting held tonight, only 3 Councillors were present at the start of the meeting - John Heron, Chair, Jeff Evans, and Tony Dent. A decision was taken to co-opt on more councillors, and Gordon Deayton (Bleatarn), Lindsey Annison (Warcop) and Jane Donaldson-Allen (Flitholme) were all co-opted.

It is hoped that a further councillor will come forward from Sandford or Coupland Beck to give full representation from the Parish area. Please contact John Heron or Heidi Strong if you would be interested in this.

Warcop on Facebook and Twitter

There is now a Warcop Village page on Facebook - added today. And you can follow the village on Twitter @warcopvillage



I've also added a Search Box so you can find information more easily.

Photos of Warcop

Sunny day in May, so we took a few photos of the village.

All photos can be seen on the Warcop Village account on Flickr - anyone can add photos to this account, so please get in touch if you would like to.

Has anyone else got recent or historic photos of Warcop we can add to the website?

This Week's News

The website can now be found at warcopvillage.co.uk

The Parish Council meeting minutes have been added, as well as the agenda for the next meeting on Monday 9th May at 7.30pm. There was no election for Parish Councillors due to the lack of candidates.

The turnout for the AV referendum was higher than expected, according to the officers.

Details of the parking arrangements for Gipsy Fair have been added to the site.

"I Knew My Place" is the book about Warcop that all residents should try to read. We would love to see it reprinted to celebrate Ted Short's 100th birthday next year.

The pub opens officially on Friday 6th May. See www.chamleyarms.co.uk for full details of events, plans, the refurb, etc. The FOWP (Friends of Warcop Pub) page of this website has been temporarily removed.

A search box has been added to the site to enable finding older information more easily.

Since winning the grant funding, the Warcop Renewable Energy Group has plenty of news! From the Energy Savings Trust Report to the Cumbria Woodlands proposals for the village,  to a community-wide solar panel project on all south facing roofs, to hydro and the Sustainable Energy Eden group. Please come forward if you are interested in saving the planet; Warcop needs to do its bit and it will reduce your fuel bills.

There is a report on the Eden Credit Union which could prove beneficial to many in this area.

Anyone interested in connecting this village to a decent broadband connection is asked to attend an Upper Eden Community Project meeting to be called shortly in the village. There are also plans to start an informal IT club in the village hall which already has a wireless broadband connection.

Everyone in the village can contribute to this website - whether it is a photo of the noticeboard to share event posters, a scene in the village, event dates and reports, your memories of Warcop, or an ad for an item for sale ....please contribute. And if you have an internet connection, we can make you an author on the site in about 2 secs if you email us.

And apart from Rushbearing - more next month - I think that's it for yet another quiet week in Warcop!

IT Club and T'interweb

There are substantial plans afoot across Cumbria to try to deliver broadband to the Final Third First. The Final Third is that 35%+ of the country's population in which the telecom companies are unwilling to invest and who are likely to be left behind on the wrong side of the Digital Divide on very slow connections.

However, all is not lost! Cumbria has been chosen as one of 4 rural broadband pilots (the others are North Yorkshire, Highlands and Islands, and Herefordshire) in line to receive approx £10million each for Better Broadband. 

So, we need to know what people use the Internet for, what broadband you would like here, and also to help everyone who chooses to get access to the information available online. 

We also know there are a few digitally reluctant people about! So, we would also like to start an informal IT club in the village hall, which already has a wireless connection from the previous broadband project 7 years ago. If you would be interested in: 

• learning what computers can do 
• playing with an iPad, iPhone or the latest digital technology
• discovering how to make free phone calls to your friends and family across the world
• removing the red eye from your digital photos and learning about digital cameras
• finding out what the fuss is over Twitter and Facebook
• scanning your precious photos
• or even doing a mail merge for your Christmas card envelopes

 you will be more than welcome to come along. Details to be announced shortly.

This is another great way to support and use our village hall, and to get out and meet others in Warcop who may be new here, or isolated, or just plain confused about these new-fangled computers and their benefits! All ages more than welcome - it's amazing what the kids learn from the older generation at these events.

And if you are reading this online, and know you have a neighbour who cannot access the Net, please print out a copy and put it through the door.

Warcop Green Communities Report

I've managed to hopefully get to grips with Dropbox this morning.

Here is the link to the Energy Savings Trust report for everyone to read:

Warcop Green Communities Report as a PDF

You'll see Warcop has potential to become more self sustainable regarding energy supplies, utilising a mixture of hydro, wind, PV & not forgetting woodfuel.


Subsequently we also had a follow up meeting with Neville Elstone, who spoke at SEE meeting on the same evening, from Cumbria Woodlands, whose given us a planned way forward regarding utilising Warcop's woodland resources for woodfuel etc.

From Neville's email back to WREG.

"Many thanks for taking the time to show me around the village and explain your ideas.  Woodfuel has plenty of potential to help the villagers both reduce their fuel bills and carbon foot print.

We spoke about several ways that Woodfuel could work harder within the village to help the community, this ranged from helping those who currently burn wood find sources of timber and burn it more efficiently to district heating schemes such as we saw in the film (shown at SEE meeting). The community need to decide what, from a wide range of potential opportunities they want to go for, in full knowledge that the bigger the project the greater the risk and time commitment.  Below I have set out a table which details some objectives and ways to achieve them, it’s important to remember you can start with the first ones and then move on to the next.  Please note that this could be further sub divided or other options could be added in"

Objective	Ways to achieve it
Increase knowledge about burning wood well for those with existing Woodfuel stoves and open fires	A knowledge event on how to burn wood well and where to buy it from locally
Raise awareness of the potential for burning more wood in clever ways, log batch boilers for single homes, pellet stoves etc	Through a mix of events, articles, visits and information provision
Increase the management of woodlands within the area, say a 10 mile radius	A mix of events, local promotion, visits, information provision and sign posting existing free woodland advisory services
Community owned firewood business	Obtain access to a range of woodlands or buy in timber from local owners who manage woodlands
Community owned pellet/briquette business	Obtain the interest and buy in of local sawmills, ensure the business model makes sense, balance supply of pellets with demand
Community owned district heating system	Obtain buy in from community Obtain finance Set up legal agreements

WREG Update

Since the report by the Energy Savings Trust, there have been umpteen visits to the village and communications to/from the village about the options available to Warcop.

Please can anyone interested in renewable energy, recycling, sustainable solutions, solar, wind, biomass, etc etc, please get in touch with Julie at the Old Mill?

Warcop Parish Council Meeting

The next meeting is 9th May at 7.30pm in the Village Hall

Appleby Horse Fair

The dates for the Appleby Gipsy Horse Fair are 2nd - 8th June with Fair Hill opening at 4am on Thursday 2nd June. The Spring Bank Holiday is Monday 30th May.

Warcop is a stopping place for horses and bowtops, up to a maximum of 20. Permitted areas for stopping in Warcop are shown on the map on the official Appleby Fair website here.

No motorised vehicles or caravans are allowed this year and full details of the temporary stopping place in Warcop are available on the official Appleby Fair website.

Sandford - 10-15 vehicles are permitted between the A66 and the railway bridge. No parking is permitted beyond the Railway Bridge, as shown on the map here. Full details of the Sandford temporary stopping place can be found here.

Sandford Road End has room for 15 vehicles between the A66 and the Railway Bridge

I Knew My Place

Cover Photo: Horse Fair at Kirkby Stephen
Copyright Kendal Library, Cumbria County Council

Edward Short's book about Warcop, entitled, "I Knew My Place" is a must-read for anyone who lives in the village. It is not particularly easy to find a copy, even online, but there is a copy in the Warcop Archives (The Gregson Collection) and a comfortable sofa on which to read it!

Ted Short was born and grew up on Brookside, Warcop. He became Postmaster General in 1967 and then Chairman of Cable & Wireless. Now Lord Glenarama, he is the second oldest peer in the House of Lords and his political career has been illustrious. He will be 100 years old next December.


The back cover blurb reads:

Warcop in the Twenties was still a feudal pyramid with the Lady of the Manor sitting on the top like a cock on a farmyard midden, and the tenant cottagers at the bottom of the socio-economic heap. Everyone had his place in the structure and knew it; few aspired to to change their place and even fewer were successful in doing so. But we were an independent lot, everyone regarded himself as being as good as, perhaps better than, the next one, not in an arrogant way but with a fierce belief that what he did was as important in the village as what anyone else did. Jack Watt, the rabbit catcher who came down from the fell each morning (when there was an 'r' in the month) with his bicycle festooned with rabbits, was as proud of his calling as the vicar and a good deal more successful with rabbits than Mr Shaw with sinners.

Broadband in Warcop

As was recently mentioned in the Parish Council meeting, there are plans afoot to improve the broadband connections into rural Parishes such as Warcop. Recently, several people in Warcop, Bleatarn and Sandford, who have previously expressed an interest in broadband (e.g. at the Great Asby Meeting last year and at the Rheged Conference last September) have received this email from Libby Bateman, Upper Eden Community Project Officer.....

Congratulations to the village

Driving past the Chamley Arms on this gorgeous spring evening, it would seem that all the work everyone in the village has done to ensure the refusal of the planning applications for 2/3 residential conversion has been worth it. People are sitting outside in the sun drinking and talking, and include many who have not seen each other for months.

It is only because those plans were refused that the pub is open tonight, under new management/tenancy, brightened up, and welcoming. The village knew that all the pub required was a little TLC and some vision of the potential that particular building holds to serve this community's needs. The Planning Inspector realised this too. Now the village can enjoy the benefits.

Speculative development of community assets in villages such as Warcop will not be permitted under the new Localism Bill and it seems Warcop has bucked the trend by preventing it before the Bill is made law.

Well done, Warcop. And thanks to all those within and for FOWP (who have not been forced to stick their heads above the parapet!) and who have helped behind the scenes for the last 20+ months to ensure that the Chamley could open its doors again with a warm welcome for villagers and as a venue for food, beer, village events, etc. Much needed B&B accommodation next, we hope...

Salud!

Eden Credit Union

The study group for Eden Credit Union has established a bank account, appointed Committee Members, and is now seeking to find 1000 members in Eden to become a reality.

A Credit Union is for local savings and loans that runs on a co-operative basis for the benefit of its members. Low-interest loans are available to members, and at just 1-2% interest, this means that if you need to pay bills, buy a new car, have a holiday, you can afford to borrow without "breaking the bank".


You can pledge your support (this is a non-binding pledge) through the website and it literally takes a couple of minutes. There are plenty of links to further information about Credit Unions, details of the progress of the group and news of meetings at www.edencreditunion.org.uk

Chamley Arms Premises Licence

The plans for the pub - as presented at the Parish Council Meeting by Phil Pepper (March 2011)

The plan *appears* to be to have two flats (disabled downstairs) as holiday lets. The current dining room as a carvery is due to be closed if and when planning is permitted for the new build at the rear of the pub.

We hope the LOUNGE BAR will see plenty of new customers. Especially with the new carvery. Go eat there!! There is no need for any new build behind the pub.........

----------------------------
An application has been submitted to Eden District Council for a new Premises Licence by Phil Pepper and Mandy Simpson. (Ask on Camp for their references). The premises application should be displayed publicly, and at 50m intervals around any building/premises over 50 square meters - it is currently missing.  If anyone has seen the missing application(s) and can inform the rest of the village as to its content, please let us all know in the comments box below.

Warcop Exchange - this Saturday

9th April 10 - 12 noon PLUS Social Media Surgery 11 -1pm

Books + Toys + Clothes Exchanges, Recycling of unwanted items.

Warcop Parish Village Hall Survey Report - NOW available.

Groceries and provisions.

Warcop Renewable Energy Group - new report from the Energy Saving Trust about how Warcop as a village can help reduce our carbon footprint, plus job opportunities

Time to talk about the Reading Room

Get Online and learn all about social media with our Social Media Surgery from 11am.

• How can Twitter help you, your business and your family
• What is Facebook good for?
• How can we use social media for the good in Upper Eden?
• Come and see!

Plus, how Cumbrians have done their little bit for Japan through #Quakebook..............see Quakebook for yourself. 

Street Party for Royal Wedding 29th April 2011

We'd like to arrange a community street party for the Royal Wedding bank holiday of 29th April.

Please can we have some ideas and some support and decide whose organising the event.

The village green is favoured spot & not forgetting the Chamley Arms should be open by then.

Warcop school & nursery are desperately trying to raise funds for resources and a new classroom, so we wondered whether some proceeds might be able to be donate to this or some other village need.

Solar Panels

Julie went to the SEE (Sustainable Energy Eden) meeting last night and brought back a printed pack. Big thanks to her for giving up her evening - I was in London and couldn't make it back in time.

(Apparently, I'm not allowed to ask how much these bits of paper in the pack cost to produce, whether this is an environmentally friendly way of sharing info, or suggesting that it could all have been read online for micropennies on a website!)

How do we get involved with Sustainable Energy Eden?

Warcop is not in the Heart of Eden project area. We are Upper Eden. This is an invisible boundary, but we are working on getting our new hydro and renewable schemes involved in SEE. Watch this space! (Or the Herald next week)

We do have access to thermal cameras to see where your house is leaking heat, plus a new bulk buying scheme for solar panels, electricity, oil, underfloor heating etc.

If you are considering any form of carbon reduction solution, please contact WREG via Julie or Lindsey. We can help reduce your costs through the bulk buying scheme.

If every household in the village informed WREG of their buying plans for insulation, PVs, etc, we could negotiate better prices for you all.

Please, get in touch.

Parish Council Meeting 14th March

Nice to see so many people at the Parish Council meeting - I counted 37, which is a great turn out.

Subjects covered included minutes from last meeting, a report from our District Councillor Willy Patterson (including the likely impact of cuts on services such as the buses), a report from the school,  the Highways report from Joyce, the Village Hall survey report (results due at the end of the month), WREG report from Julie, Appleby Fair discussion led by Roly Earl, details of the Chamley Arms plans by Phil Pepper, and the Parish Council elections to be held in May.

Some Councillors intend to stand down at this election, so anyone wishing to stand for the Parish Council needs to get hold of the required forms from Heidi.

The minutes will be made available shortly, and we will be updating the Parish Council area of the blog over the coming weeks with as much info as possible.

Warcop Action Group raise £2300 for local groups

Warcop Action Group has raised more than £2,300 for local good causes in 2010, and presented the local medical practice with a cheque for £600 at their latest fundraising event. Dr Alan MacDonald attended the coffee shop in the Village Hall to receive the cheque from WAG organisers Jean Hoyle, Elizabeth Atkinson and George Atkinson.

(As reported in the Eden Valley Messenger)

WREG wins grant funding

Warcop Renewable Energy Group has been awarded grant funding by the Energy Savings Trust to look at the options available to the village for carbon savings schemes, a hydro scheme, biomass, carbon reduction on a public building, and various other potential solutions to generate electricity, save money on fuels, and use village assets (including land, buildings, water and trees). The work is ongoing as of today - a very quick, and reasonably painless, turnaround on grant funding!

This is great news, and luckily it was a lovely day today for wandering around with CORE looking at water courses, woods, village buildings, and talking about possible schemes.

We also discussed holding a short seminar for landowners and farmers to discover what options are available for us to work together to get the best feed-in tariffs, deals on equipment and so on.  More news on this shortly, and WREG will be at The Exchange on Saturday in Sandford if anyone would like to come and have a chat.

EVENT: Brough Farmer's Market

Saturday March 19th from 9.30am - 1pm in the Memorial Hall.

Please support the stallholders from our area.

Stock up on locally produced lamb, beef, pork, venison, ducks, eggs, and poultry. Cakes and quiches, fudge and chocolate, vegetables and cheese, jams and  chutneys. Plants, creams, a silversmith and more!

For more information,check out the Brough Farmer's market website.

EVENT: Warcop & Sandford Exchange

The next Exchange is Saturday 12th March from 10am -12pm in Sandford Institute.

These events are getting more and more popular as they become more established. It's a great opportunity to find out what is happening in the Parish and beyond, so don't miss out!

Warcop Renewable Energy Group

WREG have submitted an application to the Energy Savings Trust for grant funding to begin the process of investigating how we can achieve some of the ideas for Warcop. We hope to hear very shortly whether we have been awarded the grant funding.

Eden Broadband

A meeting was held on Thursday 3rd March in Kirkby Stephen with a rep. from the Broadband Delivery UK team (Mike Kiely from the DTI/BIS) to update everyone on the BDUK pilot project progress and to discuss next steps.

Chamley Arms Update

Anyone interested in the plans for the pub has been invited to go and knock on the door to see and hear what is going on. The invitation has been issued by Phil Pepper through the Parish Council.

The aim is to get the pub doors open again as soon as possible. The date of April 1st has been suggested as a potential opening date (This is, we are assured, not an April Fool!)

Plans will be submitted to the Council for some changes to the building structure - more detail to follow.

As soon as one of the bloggers can track him down, we hope to publish an interview with Phil here.....

Warcop Renewable Energy Group Update

Update: 01.03.2011 We have just received an email regarding group purchase of oil and electricity by a village of 215 homes in Co. Durham. (i.e. not dissimilar to Warcop + Sandford).

The potential saving to the villagers by all buying oil and electricity together in that village would be £17,000 per annum in oil and £30,000 p.a. in electricity. This sort of cost saving would make a huge difference to all of us in the village and should be discussed by all of us at the next WREG meeting.

All WREG news can be found by clicking here

More village groups join the blog

We are really looking forward to including news from Warcop school and nursery after a fortuitous meeting in the Little Chef over pancakes the other day!

If you want a space for your group, please come and join us on the blog. And tell others to contribute, share news, publicise events, and comment.

Warcop author goes to Milan

Quite an interesting experience this week for a Warcopian. I've been to Milan to launch a book at the Fibre To The Home conference.

A very surprising relief was bumping into Tom Woof from Kirkby Stephen at the hotel reception and feeling a little less out of my depth 30 minutes into Italy!

The conference was enormous - over 3000 delegates - and although this is not my first time there, it is always somewhat difficult to find your feet.

Upper Eden Community Plan

Renewable Energy Event

Thursday 17^th February 2011

7 – 9pm Lakeland Training Room – Eden Fitness, Kirkby Stephen

You are invited to attend an evening to explore the potential for renewable energy schemes across Upper Eden.  You may have an interest in small scale hydro/wind/solar or perhaps you have ambitions to run a community owned scheme.  This event is designed to answer some of you questions and make contacts to help you develop your ideas.

Warcop Exchange 12th Feb

Don't forget Warcop Exchange on Saturday between 10am and 12 in the Village Hall.

Not only can you find out about local services, buy eggs and local products, get your copy of the Herald, but this time there will also be Ian Baker from the Energy Saving Trust, who will be bringing along his very high tech driving simulator to teach you how to drive your vehicle more effieciently and save you money on your fule bill.

Dean Raine will also be there to tell you about the new homeshare scheme. Look out for the leaflets coming through your door. This is a great little event ran by volunteers from your parish so come along and have a cuppa and a chat.

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."