Week beginning November 18th 2002

Christmas is coming! On Saturday November 23rd St. Augustine's Parish Church will be holding their Christmas Bazaar in the Alexandra Hall on St. Augustine's Gate, Hedon, from 10.30 a.m. until 3 p.m. There will be all sorts of stalls and Christmas items on sale, games to play and a raffle etc., and refreshments will be available throughout the day. All proceeds raised at the event will go to the church funds.

Preston Christmas Fair : All Saints' Church, Preston, are holding a Christmas Fair and Gift Day on Saturday November 23rd in the Church Hall (just across the road from the church) starting at 2pm. The cost of admission will be 30p, which will include refreshments. Stalls will include cakes, crafts and plants, plus of course a "white elephant" stall, and there will be a raffle and a Tombola. All proceeds from this Fair will go to the church funds.

Paull Churchyard : The churchyard at St. Andrew's church, Paull, has been awarded a Highly Commended certificate for the Living Churchyards Awards 2002. This is the second year of the competition, organised jointly by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Diocese of York and sponsored by NPower, for churchyard management sympathetic to wildlife. In the first year of the competition Paull was awarded a Commended certificate, so progress is obviously being made : who knows what they will do next year?

Sad loss for Hedon Scouts and Cubs : the Scouting community in Hedon are mourning the loss of the lady many of them knew simply as "Akela." Mrs. Mary Carr died recently at the age of 83, and although born in Hull, moved to Hedon at a very early age and spent nearly eighty years living in Hedon and Preston. She was a very active member of the community and for 38 years was associated with the St. Augustine's Hedon Cub Scout pack. She was also a staunch supporter of the Hedon History and Museum Societies, and in addition to her support of local voluntary groups, helped at the Syke Street artificial limb centre and also at the Hedon Road Maternity Hospital providing refreshments - and no doubt looking to sign up future recruits for the Scouting movement! Mary continued to help out at the Maternity Hospital right up until the day before she died, and she will be missed by all who knew her. She made her Scout Promise many years ago, and, having promised to "help other people at all times," kept it every day of her life, a shining example to all who knew her.

Saltend Roundabout ---- or "The coming of the cones" : I had a plaintive request the other day, asking for instructions on how to get to Paull from Hedon Road, coming from the Hull direction. The problem, it appears, is in the signs as you approach the roundabout : they all differ, one has the road to Paull indicated as being in the Hedon lane, one has the right-hand turn (to Paull) labelled "Saltend only" and one has Paull crossed off entirely. Only the last sign, the yellow one right at the roundabout, has Paull on it in the correct direction, added at the bottom in small letters and therefore oh so easy to miss! The roundabout itself has a signpost indicating that to get to Fort Paull you need to continue round and back towards Hull, but beyond that - nothing! The turn off that you actually need to take is to the left, labelled "Saltend" - no mention of Paull - but should you venture to take this road you will eventually find a signpost to Paull. Turn left there, and take your pick with the cones (we reckon that they're worth ten points each …) - I have seen confused drivers take some wild and wonderful routes through them!

Progress of the Coastal Realignment at Paull : another phone call with another request, this time to provide a progress report about the ongoing coastal works to the Humber bank just south of Paull village. You may know this work as the "Thorngumbald Managed Retreat:" well, not only has the Environment Agency taken a few geography lessons and finally placed the works in Paull, where they have been all along, but they have also decided to adopt a more positive name and the project is now re-defined as "coastal re-alignment" rather than a "retreat." The work seems to be continuing well despite the atrocious weather conditions we've been experiencing lately. The lighthouses at Thorngumbald Clough (the red and white ones south of Fort Paull) have now been surrounded by rock armour defences and will remain where they are, joined to the "mainland" by a narrow isthmus and will remain accessible to walkers. The footpath beyond the lighthouses, however, has closed permanently as the sea-wall will be breached once the works are finished, and the path will be re-routed along the new flood defence bank further inland, skirting the saltmarsh which it is hoped will establish itself quickly once the sea is allowed to encroach. The new bank, which runs parallel with the road from Paull to Thorngumbald for most of its length, has met with what could be called a "technical hitch" due to unforeseen geological conditions, but we all hope that it will still be completed on schedule and that, given a year to settle and for the plants to re-establish themselves, the footpath will be open to walkers late in 2003 or early 2004.

Church Services for Sunday November 24th 2002 :
Hedon : St Augustine's Parish Church : United Benefice Sung Eucharist at 10.00 a.m.
Hedon Methodist Church : All Age Worship at 10.30 a.m., Evening Service at 6.30 p.m.
St. Joseph and St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Baxtergate, Hedon : 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 10.30am in the Jubilee Room of the Alexandra Hall, St. Augustine's Gate; a Sunday School is also held at 10.30am every Sunday.
Paull : St. Andrew's Church : United Benefice Sung Eucharist at 10.00 a.m. at Hedon.
Paull Methodist Church, Main Street Holy Communion service at 3 p.m.
Preston : All Saint's Parish Church : Holy Communion 9.30 a.m.
Preston Methodist Church : Morning Service 10.30 a.m.