Articles

This has to be my favourite time of year! The run up to Christmas is well underway. There is so much to look forward to over the next few weeks.

Have you been watching ‘The Repair Shop’ on television? Did you know we have our own Repair Shop in Harborough?

Things are pretty quiet at the locks now we are into the winter months. Except when the odd bright sunny day brings out the walkers and visitors.

Lots to look forward to at Christmas but what about the New Year? Do you enjoy singing or listening to music? Most of us do. The Foxton Community Choir will be holding a Taster Evening on Thursday 11 January 2024 from 7.30pm in Foxton Church.

The nights draw in, the cold weather nips at our noses, and the twinkling lights of Christmas sparkle into the darkness. It is winter, and it is beautiful.

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world” - Desmond Tutu

The word fact has links with manufacture, factory and artefact – things that are made by people. There are many aspects to this idea. The most obvious is that facts change as new discoveries are made: look in an old science book to see how many facts are now out of date. I have an old and treasured copy of ‘The Observer’s Book of Astronomy’, written and signed by Patrick Moore, which confidently asserts that Jupiter has 12 moons. As of writing, 95 moons have been discovered – a fact that may well soon become obsolete.

Illston On The Hill WI held their AGM in November. This proved to be a very lively meeting. All the various statements were read, digested and approved. The current officers and committee were re-elected. In order to try and encourage some new blood on to the committee we are introducing ‘friends in the WI’. One or two members will be invited to attend a couple of committee meetings during the year to familiarise themselves with the procedures of the WI and give them an insight into what the various tasks entail. We are hoping this will whet appetites and lead to some new and inspirational ideas. The AGM was followed by our annual supper which was lovely.

In the 1950s a number of ancient fossils were unearthed of which one, Charnia, has given its name to a variety found not merely in our backyard but also worldwide. In its beginnings Charnwood was part of Avalonia an ancient continent 60 Degrees south of the Equator including most of Britain, Ireland and Newfoundland - 600 million years ago. The very oldest rocks have their genesis as the result of a volcanic eruption that is vaguely near Whitwick and was formed in the Pre Cambrian era. Then came the Cambrian age, its most famous rocks found in Swithland slate. By the advent of the Permian era - 260 million years ago we find Charnwood, now near the Equator, part of the Pangea supercontinent; a desert environment. This is evidential by aeons of dry sand, blasted by the wind to form the current shape of the hills.

South Leicestershire has a woodland coverage of 3-4% (Surrey’s coverage is 25%) and it is decreasing with Ash dieback. Harborough Woodland is a not for profit community group set up in February 2020. Its aim is to increase woodland cover by planting trees and hedgerows and to reduce the risk of flooding through natural flood management (NFM). NFM schemes use vast numbers of trees and hedges. The roots, soil and fungi of one metre of mature hedge is a live sponge that can hold and slowly release 3 to 5m3 or tonnes of potential flood water (hedgelink.org.uk)