The Bulletin
Get your copy of the latest Bulletin, click
here.
Updates from West Berkshire Council
As you will know, the government requires the abolition of
district councils and their re-organisation into larger
councils. The proposal for West Berkshire Council is laid out
here.
Also, the new Local Plan Review Adoption Statement is viewable
here
and the Sustainability Appraisal / Strategic Environmental
Assessment relating to the Local Plan is
here.
Switching off your Outside Lights
The North Wessex Downs NL ask people to switch off their outside
lights when they’re not absolutely necessary. Wildlife groups
ask the same. Neighbours living next to someone that keep their
outside lights on at night want the lights to go off and the
police tactfully suggest that leaving outside lights on simply
helps burglars. Switching off your outside lights helps the
environment and saves money.
Any suggestions about how to incentivise people to switch off
unnecessary outside lights would be gratefully received. Email
inkpen-climate@outlook.com.
INKPEN HISTORY SOCIETY
Thanks to Stephen Smallbone, the newspaper clips have been
brought closer up to date. We’re now covering the period from
1750 through to 1960. This is a huge piece of work that will be
made available on our history website very soon.
We still have audio tracks to complete and photos to scan. We
could do with some help scanning photographs and transcribing
hand written text so please get in touch via
inkpen-climate@outlook.com if you think you can help.
We will have another attempt at starting some proper
archaeology, (a dig on an Inkpen site) in late March / early
April 2026. The site that we are hoping to dig is thought to be
a late Saxon, early Medieval site with links to the crusades. If
you think you might be interested, please email us, as above,
and we’ll keep you posted. The dig is likely to last for a
minimum of several weeks. We will try and get a trained
archaeologist to organise the dig so that we don’t damage the
site.
Do keep an eye on the history group’s website
history.inkpenvillage.co.uk for the date of the next meeting,
which is likely to be in February. Have a great Christmas and
all the best for the New Year.
POP-IN CAFE
|
There
are a lot of people locally that suffer from Dementia,
and we very much want to support them in any way we can.
If you wish, you can get a badge from Dementia UK to
wear and show your support and understanding for those
with dementia. |
Through-out October Pop-In café users raised £80 for Dementia UK.
This has now been sent to them, and we are very grateful to all
those that contributed. Do remember that if you need help with, or
for, a dementia sufferer, just call 0800 888 6678, or email
helpline@dementiauk.org. Admiral Nurses are there to help you. You
are not on your own – just make that call! We are now entering the
exciting Christmas period. Special cakes, chocolates, and drinks,
we might even run to a little sparkly Christmas tree. Do come and
join us. If you haven’t been before, don’t put it off any longer.
You will be most welcome and it’s on your terms, just as you want
it to be.
Here’s what AI has to say about the café: Socializing is
important because it improves mental and physical health by
reducing loneliness and stress, and it boosts cognitive
function. It fosters a sense of belonging and purpose, helps in
personal growth and the development of social skills, and can
even contribute to a longer lifespan.
The December dates are the 4th and 18th of December and the
8th of January. Just the one café in January because the
first Thursday is also New Year’s day. Put these dates in your
diary and make sure you come and join us. See you at the café.
Have a Happy Christmas and New Year.
INKPEN AND DISTRICT STARGAZERS
At our November meeting it was cloudy yet again, so we
improvised with a short talk about the fabric of space-time and
a little bit about what Black holes might be. In December we
will again hope for clear skies but just in case it’s cloudy
we’ll be talking about the basics of telescope design – what the
F number means, plus a short talk about how to spot the
constellations in the night sky.
The December meeting is on the second Wednesday, which I think is
the 10th. All are welcome. It’s £15 for annual membership (June to
June) or £3 per person for a single visit. The January meeting is
on the 14th. Our aim is always to look at the night sky, but we
seem to be rather unlucky in this respect.
We are noticing poorer and poorer conditions in which to observe
the night sky. Anecdotally we believe this to be due to global
warming/climate change. Well now we have been invited to join with
Newbury Astro and Marlborough College to methodically measure
these changes in sky quality.
At our November meeting there was unanimous support for our
involvement with this. Now we must work out what we need in terms
of equipment and what we need to do in terms of using it. This is
really important work.
If you would like to come and join our group then please email us
at inkpen-climate@outlook.com
Going for a walk
If you want a breath of fresh air and some exercise, check out
the Inkpen
walks,
but keep your distance from others, that's at least 6 feet apart
in old money. If you feel that you should wear a face mask when
outdoors, then checkout the design given on the
News page.
On the news page this month there are a number of updates
including from the Inkpen Primary School and pre-school, from
the Playing field trust and Village Hall, and there's this
months Police Report .
Local Climate Group.
We have a newly formed climate group. The website is
http://climate.inkpenvillage.co.uk.
If you have a look, you’ll see that we have collected data on
moths, trees, bird sightings and beetles, as well as data on the
weather. This data enables us to see what changes are taking
place locally and the pace of those changes. If you have any
data, new or historic, on local climate related events or know
of someone with an interest in this, then please get in touch
with us.
We want to bring all local data together in one
place and make sure that it doesn’t get lost. Email us at
inkpen-climate@outlook.com.
In the autumn, we’ll hold a meeting so that all of you that are
concerned about climate change can meet and help us to get
properly organised. Keep an eye on the website. Thank you.
THE NORTH WESSEX DOWNS
For the latest news about the North Wessex Downs, go
to:
https://mailchi.mp/northwessexdowns/newsletter-from-the-north-wessex-downs-9196973?e=9e5b9f421a
Please give us a hand – Oak Trees in Inkpen
We need
your help to measure oak trees. Measuring tree
girths helps us to evaluate changes that have taken place in
Inkpen and enable future researchers to
evaluate the effect
of climate change on tree growth and distribution. This is
work of real value, be part of it. Go to
inkpenhistory.uk to find out more.
