Colton Parish News April 2021 - Colton Parish News is sponsored by: The Parish Lands Trust, St. Mary's Church & the Parish Council

Colton Parish News
                April 2021

            Colton Parish News is sponsored by:
The Parish Lands Trust, St. Mary’s Church & the Parish Council

St Mary’s Altar Flower Rota

                           April 2021

                        St Mary's Altar Flower Details

The Church will be open on Easter Day 4th April for worship.
I will contact the flower arrangers when I am able to pass on details of
when your flowers, already arranged, can be delivered into Church.
                      Dorothy Bradbury
                      Flower Co-ordinator

Welcome to April, I hope everyone is keeping safe and well as we start to

look forward to the easing of restrictions and seeing friends and family again.

With this in mind the village hall committee thought it would be nice to have an
event at the village hall for parishioners to celebrate reopening and the resuming of
our village organisations. The proposed date is July 4th and we hope to coincide with
the duck race being organised by the PC. More details will follow but if anyone is
interested in helping out please contact any of the committee members . We would
certainly welcome it !

Wishing you all a Happy Easter.

Fiona

My thoughts have been very much on expectation in the last few weeks.
For many children the return to school has been the first step to moving out of these
strange times. For many parents this has also been a moment of relief.

We have so many things to be expectant for: the lifting of restrictions due to COVID-
19 – seeing family and friends, getting haircuts, the beginnings of a dream of a
Summer holiday, and for us as a church community the ability to meet again, to
worship and to grief and give praise for all that has been and all that will be.

In amongst this we celebrate Eastertide. As Christians we are Easter people. It is the
point when the life of Christ reaches its most transformative. Yet Lent and the run up
to Easter are a time of self reflection and a period when we journey through the trials
and tribulations of his wilderness experience and the sorrows and pain of Holy Week.

I think that a parallel exists between waiting in expectation for the future post COVID
and the Easter journey. We know there is hope coming, and we can imagine what it
might look like, and yet we cannot know what this could be, until it happens. When
things happen they are never quite as we expected and whilst waiting many of us
continue to experience pain and sorrow and difficulties.

The new world, that Jesus’ disciples expected is not the world they found themselves
in when witnessing the crucifixion even when they saw Jesus after his resurrection.
Their expectations and their hopes and dreams could not imagine the world that
came about.

As we head into the depths of Spring and look to the Summer, with our hopes and
dreams and expectations, let us remember that Jesus’s death and resurrection didn’t
restore the world, but transformed it. Our future will not be the same as the past.

I look forward to spending time getting to know the Benefice and all of you. I enjoy
cycling and cycled between the 5 churches in the last month, and look forward to
cycling more across the Benefice in the coming months.

We expect the world to be different in the future, but what are we going to do to
change it? Striving to return to the past shouldn’t be an option for the Easter people.
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears” (Nelson Mandela).

With every blessing in this Easter season.

Revd. David Anderton

Colton Organisation Contacts

Colton Local Nature Reserve              Colton Parish Council
John MacMillan                           Mrs Alison James, Clerk of the Council
Tel: 01889575394                         24 Parnell Ave, Lichfield
e-mail: mrjkmac@sky.com                  Tel: 07969266779
                                         e-mail:colton.pc@hotmail.co.uk
Village Hall Management Com-             Parish Lands Trust
mittee                                   Claire Collier
John MacMillan                           Four Oaks
Tel: 01889 575394                        Radmore Lane
                                         Abbots Bromley
e-mail: mrjkmac@sky.com                  Staffs
                                         Ws15 3ap
                                         07966637044
                                         e-mail: clerk.cplt@gmail.com
St. Mary’s Primary School                Village Hall Hire
Bellamour Way, Colton. WS15 3LN          Mrs Fiona O’Brien
Mr J Wynn- Head Teacher                  Tel : 07972058997
Tel: 01889 224506                        e-mail: coltonparishnews@yahoo.com
e-mail: stmarysof-
fice@tssmat.staffs.sch.uk

Website: st-marys-colton.staffs.sch.uk
Colton Old People’s Welfare              Colton Women’s Institute
Committee
Mrs Amanda Pratt                         e-mail: secretarycoltonwi@gmail.com
e-mail: mandapratt@msn.com
Tel: 01889583966
Colton Produce Guild                     Colton Ramblers
Peter Brightman (Chairman)               Mrs Gwen Johnson
5 Antler Drive                           e-mail: gwen-johnson@hotmail.co.uk
Rugeley
Tel: 07896521941
Colton History Society                   Colton Friendship Club
Mrs Gill Sykes                           Mrs Judy Winter
Chantry Farmhouse, Thorney Lanes         1 Coachmans Walk
Hoar Cross                               Colton
Tel:01283575039                          Tel: 01889583517

e-mail: gillsykes@btinternet.com
                          Burial Ground Trustees
Mrs Alison James                           Mrs Dorothy Bradbury
24 Parnell Ave,                            Bank Top Cottage, Hollow Lane
Lichfield                                   Colton
Tel: 07969266779                           Tel: 01889585519

External Organisation Contacts

Lichfield District Council Numbers
L.D.C. Switchboard                                    01 543 308 000
L.D.C. Out of hours Emergency                         01 543 308 999
Lichfield District Councillor (Shirley Barnettl)      01 889 577 168
Environmental Health: Dog Warden, Food Licensing,
Noise and Pollution Control                           01 543 308 725
Dangerous Buildings                                   01 543 308 157
Dog Fouling, Litter and Fly-Tipping                   01 543 308 999
Pest Control                                          0844 335 0330
Homelessness/Housing Enquiries                        01 543 308 709
Trading Standards                                     01 283 239 913

Miscellaneous Numbers
Age Concern                                             01 785 600 610
Bogus Callers—Staffordshire Police                      01 543 686 142
Childline                                               0800 1111
Citizens Advice Bureau, Rugeley.                        01 889 580 633
Citizens Advice Bureau Advice line:                 www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Council for Voluntary Services                          01 543 303 030
Crimestoppers                                           0800 555 111
Cruise Bereavement Line                                 02 083 327 227
Deer Casualty Line                                      07 699 745 400
Domestic Violence                                       01 543 676 800
Drug/Alcohol Information Line                           08000 858 276
Electrical Power Loss (Western Power DistributionWest) 105
Gas Escape                                              0800 111 999
Highway Repair Hotline                                  0300 111 8000
KeepBritainTidyCampaign:‘Shop-a-dropper’tipoffhotline 0845 3000 630
NHS Direct                                              0845 4647
NSPCC Child Protection                                  0800 800 500
Neighbourhood Watch                                     See Page 39
Police non-emergency telephone number                   101
Pollution (not noise) Control                           0800 807 060
Rape and Sexual Abuse                                   02 078 371 600
Relate                                                  01 543 304 858
Samaritans                                              116 123
Samaritans (local numbers)                              01 785 243333
Social Services                                         01 543 510 800
Stafford Hospital                                       01 785 257731
Staffordshire County Council (S.C.C )                   01 785 223 121
Staffordshire County Councillor (Martyn Tittley)        01 543 490 758
                                      Martyn.tittley@staffordhire.gov.uk
South Staffs Water                                      0800 389 1011
Sewerage problems ,Severn Trent Water                   0800 7834444

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE KITCHEN WINDOW

Spring is in the air! As is normal for this time of year, it’s blowing an
unholy gale, the sun is fleeting and the lawn still squelches
underfoot! Even so the daffodils are in flower and June 21 st is being
punted as Freedom Day. Let’s just hope it works out that way. We
are all looking forward to being able to return to sharing bottles of wine and food with
un-shouted conversations.

However before all that can happen we have a lot of personal MOT work to do. We
must move out of Covid pupal mode into becoming socially presentable “butterflies”.
For example, ‘Er Indoors has grown a new hairstyle reminiscent of the one she wore
as a teenager with her flowing locks. The only discernible difference is a colour
change.( Even so, I still tell her she looks marvellous!) For me, despite having had
three Covid haircuts with the kitchen scissors, my hair has definitely slid down the back
of my neck. First stop will be the hairdressers. This will bring us up to the appearance
standards of the dogs having recently had their Spring visit to the beauty parlour

There are other important matters which have completely lapsed over the past year.
We need to play catch up on teeth, eyes and ears. Before Christmas I lost a great
chunk of filling, since when I have had to put on a brave face. I called the dentist at the
time. Because of COVID shutdown, he advised the use of a DIY tooth cement. Having
struggled to get it in the right place, I found it crumbled even after just a cup of coffee .I
ended up spitting out pellets all day.

Our car usage has been minimal during this pandemic. Driving has essentially been
limited to pre-dawn excursions on a Friday to Tesco, with the occasional treat of going
into Morrison’s and Aldi. Idiotically I commented that the car was dirty. ‘Er Indoors
unhesitatingly told me how to remedy the problem! Apparently overnight a long nail had
embedded itself in one of the tyres to cause a slow puncture. We did not notice this
until the lady behind the dashboard started shouting at us to warn of a “life or death
emergency”.

We are wondering how much longer we will have to go around looking like Wild West
bank robbers with sanitised hands and having to avoid stopping for a chat when
walking the dogs. We will all have to change our habits when meeting someone on the
pavement. It will no longer be a case of who blinks first and gambles with fate when
stepping into the road.

Regards from Sheringham

W.I. REPORT FOR APRIL 2021

On the third of March I celebrated surviving a year of
isolation at home with the only exception of going out
on Thursday 28th January for my vaccination.
During July to mid-October 2020 W.I. members of the
teddy bear knitting group had visited me sitting in our
barbecue area outside. There are several banana
boxes containing teddy bears again waiting collection
for the Buddy Bag Foundation.
Anyone coming into Colton over the brook bridge could not
fail to notice the superb banner (sewn by Judy Winter) and
positioned at the floral planter on Pedley’s Croft. The banner
marked International Women’s Day which always falls on 8th
March.
Purple, green and white are the colours of International
Women's Day (the same as WI). Purple signifies justice and
dignity. Green symbolizes hope. White represents purity,
albeit a controversial concept. The colours originated from the
Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the UK in
1908. (see picture below)

 It seems very strange that so much of W.I. business is
temporally being conducted by email and even having to
substitute the A.G.M. as emails to be approved on line.
Hopefully we will all soon have the daffodil from our Autumn
W.I. goody bag in flower.

  Julie Thorn

New Services from Staffordshire County Council
Staffordshire Libraries, in partnership with Community Learning, launch an IT
Telephone support service
Are you struggling with IT in lockdown, unable to get your e-mail setup, want to try online
shopping or has social media got you all confused? Do you want to know more about how
to get started with eBooks or eMagazines or find out about online courses to brush up
your skills?

Maybe our new telephone support service can help.

Complete an online form at www.staffordshire.go.uk/TelephoneITSupport or contact our
Call Centre on 0300 111 8000 or your local library to register for a call back.

A friendly member of our Library team or a Community Learning tutor will give you a call
and talk through your problem and help you work through it.

If we can’t find an immediate solution we’ll make sure we direct you to someone who can,
to a suitable course or other kinds of help.

It’s a totally free service so give us a try, we’re happy to help.

                                     Everyone Health

 Are you feeling lonely or isolated? Would you like to be more active?

 Everyone Health has been commissioned by Staffordshire County Council to
 deliver a free, community-based service that will aim to improve the physical
 and emotional wellbeing of adults in Staffordshire. During the COVID
 restrictions our service has developed from face to face appointments to
 telephone calls and virtual sessions. We have something for everyone from
 Bingo, book clubs, virtual walks and more Call us on 0333 005 0095 for more
 information.

Next Parish Council meeting

The next meeting of Colton Parish Council is on Wednesday 7th April at 7.30pm.

Meetings are currently being held by Zoom video conferencing. Any parishioner is
welcome to join to observe the meeting and also to raise any matters during the
Public Participation section at the start.

To join the Zoom Meeting, use the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88502524201?
pwd=VFNmWmd4UW54UnZoSFZFWTRPNHJZUT09

Alternatively, go to www.zoom.us and select 'Join a meeting' and enter the fol-
lowing details when prompted:

Meeting ID: 885 0252 4201
Passcode:    CPC0421

Please use your correct name when joining the meeting.
If you need any more assistance, please contact the Clerk, Alison James, in ad-
vance at colton.pc@hotmail.co.uk or on the night on 07969 266779

Alma and family
Would like to thank everyone for their support and kindness shown during Nev’s
illness, and for the messages of sympathy and support given since Nev passed away.

Thank you all for the overwhelming display of affec-
tion and respect shown by everyone lining the route
of his funeral.

Donations given in Nev’s memory totalled £945
for M.N.D.assoc.

Thank you all for showing such kindness.
Alma

                      HANGING BASKET COMPETITION

This competition was very successful last year and definitely brightened up
the village. Would anyone like to organise the event this year?
It is not a mammoth task, mainly collating entries and taking a judge
around the village later in the year.
If you are interested and would like more information please give me a call
- Sarah Plater 01889 577499

Save the date
Subject to Covid restrictions being lifted the village hall committee intends to
hold a ‘reopening event’ to celebrate being able to meet up again and village
organisations resuming. Proposed date is 4th July. Anyone wishing to help
with the event would be warmly welcomed ! Further details to follow.

04/20

REF JAN2021

Durrant
             Funeral Service Ltd
        “Our family caring for yours at a time of need”
    We are a family run funeral service with over 40 years
                         experience.
       We can arrange Burials & Cremations to suit all
  Budgets from £2500 for a Cremation inc all statutory fees.
(We will price match any quotes you have for the same service)

               81 Fernwood Drive, Rugeley
                       01889 574593
                      (24 hours a day)

Cathedral Chem-Dry

        Cleaning carpets & upholstery locally,
              regularly & professionally

                  33 Darnford Lane,
                Lichfield WS14 9RW

                      Website:
        www.cathedralchemdry.co.uk
               Tel: 01543 418811
             Mobile: 07817038349

Dec20

Jan2021
          Jan 2021
          Aug2020