Page 43 - Phonebox Magazine November 2015

Cllr Phil Winsor
Newport Pagnell WI
The Milton Keynes Dons are realising that life in the Championship is not easy, having given a good account of themselves in tough games they have literally surrendered points and now are near the foot of the table. They need to move up a gear fast and take their chances as the opposition teams appear to do as part of their game plan. The Capital One Cup saw Southampton back at Stadium:MK. They took no chances with a very strong team costing tens of millions of pounds and it showed, they were a class act.
The three Rugby World Cup games held at the Stadium:MK resulted in new attendance records being made and broken. Over 30,000 saw the Fiji v Uruguay game along with some 23 million viewers worldwide who now know that Milton Keynes is open for business in all its guises. The Campbell Park Fanzone was a success, and the traffic management arrangements on the ‘grid’ were necessary. A big thank you and well done goes to all those who have been involved in this project over the last three years. Other cities would have loved to have been a host and as usual for the ‘City’ that thinks and acts differently – “We did it our way”.
The nights are drawing in so autumn is with us now. Regards.
Thought Provoking
T
he speaker for October was Sue Bowering, Adult Services Manager with Carers MK.
Established in 2006, this organisation gives support to informal carers, that is family and friends of the person needing care.
A carer is anyone who provides physical, emotional and practical support unpaid to someone who could not otherwise manage. There are currently over 6.5 million carers in the UK, 58 per cent of them female, and it is estimated they are worth around £119bn per annum.
Carers MK gives support via referrals to other services, newsletters, support groups and events. They provide a valuable back- up service to people whose own health and livelihood can be severely affected by having to look after someone.
Sue’s talk was most interesting and very thought provoking.
The business of the AGM followed with reports from the President, Secretary and Treasurer of the previous year’s activities and finances. The Committee
was prepared to stand again en bloc, and three new members were voted on, making a total of nine for the coming year.
Three ladies decided to join the WI and paid their subscriptions, and there were also three visitors (one of whom won the raffle), so we hope they will return next month.
The Competition Cup was presented to June Weston.
The raffle was won by Martine Coyle and June Weston.
Competition: 1st Evelyn Mison, 2nd Pamela Allum, 3rd June Weston.
Tea and cakes followed and the new venue was declared a great success.
Newport Pagnell Women’s Institute meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm in the café at the rear of the Methodist Church. There is no speaker in November; instead members will talk about their favourite book, and there will be a literary quiz. New members are always welcome. For further information please call Evelyn Mison on 01908 615630 or just turn up on the night.
Remember Remember
The 5th of November
For hundreds of years before the eighteenth century most parishes removed the older bones from their graveyard to the charnel, a
space in the church crypt or some such. Parishioners might well visit and pray for the dead. In time even the charnel would become overcrowded; when that came about these old bones were removed to a pile and ceremoniously burned which event was noted as a bone-fire.....almost certainly the origin of our bonfire. When I was a kid we used to look forward to bonfire night and burn an effigy of Hitler or some other favourite villain. Down the years I’ve seen Joseph Stalin, Tony Blair, Ian Paisley and several others promoted to this hall of fame, and since around 1950 we usually also enjoyed fireworks.
As best I can make out the only place hereabouts to correctly observe the infamous gunpowder plot is Bozeat. Mind
Geoff Bacchus
you they also are planning a fireworks show. Back in the seventeenth century there were of course no fireworks and the date became an occasion to burn an effigy of the Pope, England at that time was a virulently anti- Catholic protestant country. How times change, right now even in England the present Pope is one of the best regarded of all people. Bone-fire night has become fireworks night and seems to last for all of a week. No one need miss out on the fun. GB
Phonebox Magazine 43