Week beginning January 20th 2003

Have your say : A chance for Hedon residents to have their say will be available at the public participation meeting being held on Thursday January 23rd at 7.00 p.m. in Hedon Town Hall. Members of the public are invited to bring relevant matters regarding the town before the members of the Town Council for discussion. The meeting will be chaired by the Mayor, Councillor Allen Marshall.

Fort Paull : the proprietor of Fort Paull is offering free season passes for residents of Paull village. The Fort, which houses a military museum and stages re-enactment displays throughout the summer months, reopens to the public in April and local residents are asked to contact Mr. Rushworth at the Fort (maybe better known to locals as the Battery) for their passes, for which an administrative charge of £1 will be made, so they can take advantage of the full season's varied offerings.

Summer in winter - in Hedon : A breath of summer sunshine comes to Hedon this winter, with a new exhibition at the Museum. Last year Hedon Museum invited South Holderness Photographic Club to mount an exhibition on a theme of their choice and this lovely display is the result. Striking photographs of Hedon gardens in summer were taken by members of the Club during 2002. Visitors to the museum will enjoy long garden views and stunning close-ups, gardens at different times of day and in all weathers. The camera looks at foliage and flowers, wonderful colours, contrasting textures and reveals all the variety of light and shade to be found in the garden landscape across the summer months. The exhibition is in the Upstairs Gallery at the Hedon Museum and is on show till Saturday, February 15th. The Museum, whose entrance is via Iveson Close car park, is open every Wednesday and Saturday from 10am until 4pm and refreshments are available; admission is free.

Friendship Circle meeting : The next meeting of Hedon Methodist Friendship Circle will be at the Methodist Church Hall on Wednesday January 22nd at 7.45p.m.. Mr. Dale Smith will show slides of old Hedon.

Broadband Campaign : D-Tec, a registered charity based in Holderness dedicated to encouraging the use of digital technology, held a meeting at which the following statement was issued : The D-Tec Executive Committee have pledged their support for the campaign to secure broadband connectivity to the Internet under the banner of "Broadband4Britain." Broadband is a means of accessing the Internet at anything up to fifty times faster than with the usual dial-up facilities of a 56Kb modem and has the capacity largely to do away with the frustrations of failing to secure a dial-up connection, being cut off in the middle of downloading or 'watching the paint dry' as graphics come to the screen. Committee member Len Haxby asked a friend who has broadband what it is doing for him. "It is difficult to put the difference into words but when you get it you will wonder how on earth you ever did without it," was the reply. That lack of broadband is inhibiting regeneration in Holderness can be illustrated by experiences in Cornwall where BT, in partnership with others and making use of European funding, has installed 600 ADSL lines and is expecting to generate more than 1000 jobs. Similar projects are being developed for Scotland, Devon, Hastings and West Sussex. (see: www.btcom/broadband ) So, what about Holderness? D-Tec will now be campaigning for Broadband4Holderness, offering to support those already in the field and looking for new allies among the many who are not yet aware of the advantages it can bring. "A start will be made if people can be persuaded to register an interest on the BT website* at: www.bt.com/broadband or the Broadband4Britain website at: www.broadband4britain.co.uk . They are user friendly sites that will encourage you to look more deeply into what you are missing and urge you to help prevent the divide between the haves and have-nots, of broadband accessibility, getting any wider." said D-Tec chairman, Don Avery. *It is not just BT customers who are missing out either: those of us who are KHTC/Karoo customers but who live outside of the city are equally discriminated against.

Damage to Paull playing field : Why is it that some grown men (I'm not being sexist, but I don't think women or girls are involved - it just isn't the sort of think they'd DO) seem incapable of walking even a few yards from their cars? Witness the recent spate of damage to the playing field at Paull, where cars have been taken onto the waterlogged grass, got stuck and caused extensive damage in the process of getting them off again. Surely it wouldn't be too much to ask for the cars to be left on the hard surfaced car park and for the drivers to WALK the few yards to where they want to place their fishing rods? Even worse is the recent deliberate damage caused by drivers going round and round in "doughnuts" on both the picnic area and the playing field, leaving deep gouges particularly in the field which will take some time and expense to repair. The playing field and its immediate surroundings at Paull are a public amenity area and as such deserve to be kept in a condition to be enjoyed by all, not just used by the thoughtless few intent on spoiling things for others.

Church services for Sunday January 26th 2003 :
Hedon : St. Augustine's Parish Church, Market Hill : United Benefice Eucharist at 10.30 a.m. at St. Andrew's Church, Paull.
Hedon Methodist Church, Church Lane : Holy Communion Service at 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 10.30 a.m.
Paull Methodist Church, Main Street : no service this week - services on alternate Sunday afternoons 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.
(Please note that due to the continuing interregnum, services at Hedon and Paull parish churches are liable to change at short notice. Any changes will be notified in the relevant church notices.)