Week beginning February 17th 2003

Friendship Circles : Hedon and Preston Friendship Circles both meet again this coming week : The Preston meeting will be held on Tuesday February 18th at 8p.m. in the Methodist Church Hall, where the speaker will be Mr. Charles Cane who will talk about Victim Support, and on Wednesday February 19th the Hedon Friendship Circle will meet at 7.45 p.m. in the Methodist Church Hall, Hedon. The speaker for this meeting will be Mr. Keith Thomas.

Internet access in the Holderness villages : The Broadband For Holderness campaign continues unabated : The D-Tec campaign to speed up the installation of broadband access to the Internet in Holderness has been activated on their web pages at www.d-tec.org and anyone interested is asked to pledge their support at the Broadband 4 Britain "Local Heroes" campaign website www.broadband4britain.co.uk/heroes/holderness. Unfortunately national advertising on a grand scale has mislead many people into believing terrestrial broadband is already available in Holderness. The BT website and telephone check gives a very different picture, however : "We are sorry but … Broadband is not currently available in your area. The size of your exchange indicates that Broadband ADSL may not be viable … the demand for Broadband ADSL does not balance with the cost of upgrading the exchange." Moreover, in several instances the response indicated that the subscribers would not be eligible for broadband connectivity, even if the exchanges were upgraded, because they were more than 5.5 kilometres from their local exchange. So there we are. It's all down to profit as usual, never mind customer convenience, and out here in the villages, once more we're the poor relations. If you feel as strongly about this as I do, now is your change to make your feelings heard by logging on and registering your vote!

Paull Workhouse : no, they're not planning to build one, not just yet anyway, but in the journal of the East Yorkshire Family History Society I noticed a plea for any information about the said workhouse, believed to have been operating around the 1830's. No-one I have spoken to in Paull knows anything about there ever having been a workhouse in the village (Leper Hospital yes, Workhouse no) so if any of my readers knows anything at all about it, please get in touch with me, either by phone or email, and I will pass the information on to the enquirer.

Piano Favourites : The East Riding of Yorkshire Council presents "Piano Favourites," a recital by Elizabeth Altman. The programme will include music by Beethoven, Chopin and Rachmaninov and will take place in the Alexandra Hall, St. Augustine's Gate, Hedon, on Friday February 28th commencing at 7.30 p.m. Tickets will cost £8, or £6 for the usual concessions, and will be available from the Council's Customer Service Centre on New Road, Hedon, telephone 01482 893555 or 01482 392651.

Church services for Sunday February 23rd 2003 :
Hedon : St. Augustine's Parish Church, Market Hill : United Benefice Eucharist at 10.00 a.m., celebrated by Rev. W. H. McLaren
Hedon Methodist Church, Church Lane: Morning Service 10.30 a.m, Evening Service at 6.30 p.m.
St. Joseph and St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Baxtergate : Daily Mass times : Sunday 10.30 a.m; Monday 9.15 a.m; Tuesday 9.15 a.m; Wednesday 7.30 p.m; Thursday 9.15 a.m; Friday 7.30 p.m; Saturday 6 p.m.
Hedon Pentecostal Church meets every Sunday at 10.30 a.m. in the Jubilee Room of the Alexandra Hall, St. Augustine's Gate; a Sunday School is also held at 10.30 a.m. every Sunday.
Paull : St. Andrew's Parish Church : United Benefice Eucharist at 10.00 a.m., celebrated at St. Augustine's church, Hedon, by Rev. W. H. McLaren
Paull Methodist Church, Main Street : no service this week - services alternate Sundays at 3 p.m.
Preston : All Saint's Parish Church : Holy Communion Service at 9.30 a.m.
Preston Methodist Church : morning service at 10.30 a.m.

Although a new Vicar has been appointed for Hedon and Paull, he does not take up his post until April so church services there are still liable to change at short notice.