Warcop Parish Council and the WI have jointly funded a new memorial bench in memory of Margaret Thomas and this is now in position at the Parish Hall. It is made of re-cycled plastic and looks very smart. We hope that you will have a sit on it – when the weather decides to behave itself again!
Warcop was blessed with sunshine (and snow) for the arrival of the Princess Royal to officially open Warcop Parish Hall. A large group of invited guests attended to meet Princess Anne, including all the staff and pupils from Warcop Church of England Primary School.
The Princess arrived at the army camp by helicopter before driving to the Hall where she was greeted by the Chair of the Trustees, Ray Bromby and fellow trustee and Booking Secretary, Joyce Keetley. She was also welcomed by the High Sherrif of Cumbria, the Chair Cumbria County Council and Eden District Council and she was accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria.
The princess was introduced to Trustees, contractors and architects, the Events Group, flood victims, user groups and members of the community. The Princess Royal took a keen interest in the Hall and the people she met before hearing a few words from Ray Bromby and then making some very positive and supportive comments about all the hard work that went into achieving the new hall. She also stressed the need to develop it and make it work as a community facility.
Darcy Brass presented Princess Anne with a posy and Charlie Dinsdale thanked her for her visit.
Everyone enjoyed her Royal Highness’s visit and visitors were treated to refreshments provided by Farm Harvest. Well done and thank you to everyone who helped plan, prepare and organise this fantastic day in the life of our community.
For a large selection of pictures from the event, please go to Galleries section on the front page or follow this link: http://www.warcop.org.uk/galleries/the-princess-royals-visit-march-21st-2017/
The first Warcop Parish Hall Soup and Pudding Lunch took place on Thursday 5th January 11:30 – 1:00 pm and was hailed as a great success. Some 23 people attended and enjoyed a variety of soups and rolls followed by puddings then tea and coffee. The atmosphere was convivial and everyone enjoyed a good chat with a range of people attending.
Organised by Glenda Burton, the plan is to hold these lunches on the first Thursday of every month at 11:30 – 1:00. Everyone is welcome and the cost for the lunch is £6 each. If anyone needs a lift there and back then please let Glenda know and this can be easily arranged. Telephone 41453.
It’s a great way to meet up with people and enjoy good food and great company!
So please come along to the next one on Thursday 2nd March at 11:30 am.
See the poster here: soup2
Thank you to everyone who donated so many bags and printer cartridges for the collection by the Great North Air Ambulance last weekend. This was our first collection for this charity which supports the running costs of the air ambulance in our area, which is so vital in a medical emergency. The charity informed us that it has raised £700, which is fantastic for our first attempt!
If you weren’t able to bring anything this time, we hope to do another collection in the new year, probably in May or June, so look out for the flyer and bags.
Well done to everyone who helped.
David Keetley
The Chancellor has announced in his Autumn Statement today (23rd November 2016) that the A66 will be upgraded to dual-carriageway from Penrith to Scotch Corner in the next transport programme, between 2020-2025. Use the following link to see the announcement: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-statement-2016-transport-announcements/autumn-statement-2016-transport-projects
Overall, it should help improve road safety, boost economic growth, avoid road closures/diversions and shorten journey times. This will help east-west links once the A1 upgrade to motorway standard is completed in spring 2017. We expect further details to be announced in the coming weeks and months.
You will doubtless be aware of the current proposals to cease the 563 bus service to Penrith in mid-December. We know that this is a lifeline service to many people in our parish, including school children, non-drivers, the elderly, workers and shoppers and so on.
Despite a range of options to maintain the service having been proposed, several meetings with the operator, and a lot of lobbying and press coverage, it now seems that Grand Prix Services have officially withdrawn all interest in running the service. We now have to work with other Parish and Town Councils to see if a different solution with a new operator can be found.
A Flood Forum Meeting was be held at Warcop Parish Hall on Monday 21st November in the Parish Hall and about 16 local residents attended on a stormy and wet night. Representatives from Cumbria County Council, the Environment Agency and other officials attended and a presentation was given about the draft Flood Investigation Report, which had just been published and can be accessed via the following link: www.cumbria.gov.uk/floods2015/floodforums.asp or on this website using the link below. Please read the report and if you have any other facts or photos that might help make tohe report more accurate, please send them in.
The meeting also discussed further ideas and possiblitlities for future preventative work such as “leaky dams” upstream which can help slow the flow of the two main becks into Warcop. A final report will be published soon and improved flood alerts and online systems are to be introduced.
Thank you to all who attended and sat through the power cuts beneath the emergency lighting!
Work commissioned by the Environment Agency and carried out by Waitings has now been completed on Crooks Beck. Members of the Parish Council and several local residents met the representatives of the Environment Agency on Monday morning for 3 hours and again on Tuesday morning for another couple of hours. On both occasions we had to ask the EA not to do the planned work by the low bridge to remove a build up of silt over many years (not caused by Storm Desmond or other storms last winter.) We also found out that even the removal of two willow trunks on the main stretch of the beck had been removed from the plan. However, after long discussions, walking up and down the beck. exploring access routes and trying to persuade the EA that only widening the beck as much as possible, starting from Rambler Cottage, including some work near the road bridge too, they finally agreed to do as much of this work as funding will allow. The original, now obsolete, scope of works plan can be seen via this link: Flood Work Scope.
The contractor Waitings revised their plans and the EA obtained the necessary consents for this work. Work was almost completed when a broken sewage pipe under the beck was discovered during the works and was then repaired by Waitings on behalf of United Utilities. There was some disruption and noise while the work was carried out for which we apologise, but we hope you understood the need for this work. We would like to thank the workers and staff of Waitings for their hard work and flexibility. As well as the main stretch of Crooks Beck being widened and lowered to take more water, they also cut off a build up of soil on the village green side of the low road. They also did some soil removal on the far side of the road bridge near Joseph’s, which should help. The only bit of work they did not do was the original work on the other side of the low bridge! Coir matting has been pegged down to stabilize the embankment and this has grass seed within it and it is biodegradable too.
The Parish Council and the EA accept that more work will have to be done in future through bids for further funding. Possible future solutions could be some sort of vortex brake dams which control the flow of the two becks into the village and would allow water to spill out onto non-risk land outside of the village and therefore reduce the flow of the becks during heavy rainfall. A Draft Flood Investigation Report for Warcop is about to be published on the Cumbria County Council website via: www.cumbria.gov.uk/floods2015/floodforums.asp. If you look at Appleby’s or Kirkby Stephen’s, for example, you will see the level of detail, photos from members of the public and recommendations for future work. A public meeting to discuss this and take any further ideas from residents is due to be held some time in October, date to be arranged. Watch this website!
We do hope that the work will help reduce the flood risk to residents in the Brookside area. Thank you to all who have helped with this and tried to make the EA respond to what Warcop needs. Well done to the team of volunteers who re-planted thousands of daffodil bulbs on the beck side which had been removed during the original clear up back in spring! They should look fantastic next year. All in all, a good outcome and we have achieved a lot so well done to all those who helped.
You will have seen that work had started on implementing a 50 mph speed limit on the A66 between Brough and the Appleby bypass. The problem with the signs has been resolved and the new speed limit is now operational (as of 3rd September 2016.) There was a delay of several weeks because of an objection to the scheme which took some time to respond to by Highways England. Police will now monitor speeds from a new observation lay-by and at other places.
The Parish Council still has concerns about insufficient double white lines on the hill near Sandford road end, and the very short distance to that turn-off from the Appleby directiom that they have positioned the 50mph signs. Warcop Parish Council would value your feedback on the effects of the new speed limit in the coming weeks and months so please let us know your views.
Other safety improvements and average speed cameras are possible in the future if speeds and accident rates do not reduce. This is now a permanent speed limit and came as a result of lobbying by a number of local Parish and Town Councils.
A report on the case for dualling all or part of the A66 and A69 is due to go to ministers in October.November 2016 (see report on meeting with Highways England in separate article.)
Follow this link to find out more about the work of the Eden Valley Railway: http://www.evr-cumbria-org-uk