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LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

Not surprisingly, this edition of our magazine has an Easter feel. As well as our regular letter from Rev Tom Goodbody on page 4, we also have a letter from Bishop Stephen on p7. Both are focusing on the seeming foolishness of the Easter story - a good challenge to many of us who are perhaps overfamiliar with it and need to see it through fresh eyes. Fortunately some worthy souls from the Salings (and Rev Tim) have helped to tidy up our villages ready for Easter and the warmer weather. Our stretch was heading south from Silver-ton’s, and we were amazed at how much junk (mainly drink bot-tles) we accumulated. Further details are to be found on p15. Robert Bucknell, one of the churchwardens for St James Great Saling, explains the plans to cut back the Irish Yews in the churchyard - see p23. And can we remind dog walkers using the paths over Saling Hall land and the churchyard that ‘poop scoops’ should be used if your dog fouls the ground. Finally, by the time you read this editorial, the signs should be up for our annual Plant Sale. Do come along, buy some bedding plants and enjoy a ba-con buttie and a cup of tea. It’s always a good social occasion!

Andrea & Richard (the editors)

Please email contributions to the May edition by the 12th of April to: SalingsMagazine@gmail.com

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CHURCH SERVICES in the Salings

APRIL

Sunday 1. April 10.30 Holy Communion Little Saling

Easter Sunday

Sunday 8. April 11.00 Morning Prayer Little Saling

Sunday 15. April 11.00 Holy Communion Great Saling

Sunday 22. April 9.30 Holy Communion Little Saling

Sunday 29. April 17.00 Songs of Praise Great Saling

MAY

Sunday 6. May 11.00 Morning Prayer Great Saling

Additional services are held in the Benefice. Further details:

Rev Tim Goodbody 856080; Rev Helen Pelly 810369

Village Coffee Morning

Thursday 12h of March 10.30-12.00 at the Salings Millennium Hall.

A warm welcome awaits everyone!

The Greville Theatre Club – Play Readings

at The Three Horseshoes, Duton Hill, (01371 870681) on the first Thursday of each month. Anyone interested is very welcome..

Concert in aid of Bardfield Saling Church On Saturday April 28th the choir Camerata are returning to Ss. Peter and Paul at 5 p.m. with a programme to include English

music from the 1600's to today to celebrate St Georges day and the ending of World War 1.

Tickets are available from The Blue Egg, Great Bardfield. £10 each to include a glass of wine and canapes.

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Dear Friends,

Well, it has been a long winter. The snow that fell in the first week of March seemed to set our seasonal clock back a good few weeks – as children were heard to ask at that time, “If we’re having winter again, can we have Christ-mas again?”

But now Spring is here, we’ve seen snowdrops, aconites, and daffodils as well as other spring flowers and plants emerging, and by the time you read this the leaves will be back on the trees and (hopefully) the sun will be a bit more visible.

There’s been a strange symmetry about Lent and Easter this year, with Ash Wednesday falling on St Valentine’s day, and Easter on the first of April. There has been some debate in clerical circles as to what level of prank one can get away with pulling in church on Easter morning, so be on your guard! Yet of course there is much to be made of an Easter Sunday that falls on April Fools Day. If our readers do not subscribe to the Christian faith or be-lieve in the resurrection, perhaps the Church can be said to look foolish for continuing to believe what we do.

And indeed (though it is unfamiliar with the concept of April Fools) the Bible addresses this very issue. (e.g. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 27). To those observ-ing form outside, the Christian faith has often appeared to be foolish, and historically there have been lots of misunderstandings, such as the accusa-tion levelled at the first century Church that they were cannibals because they spoke of consuming the body and blood of Christ at Holy Communion services.

In more recent years if there have been (more minor) misunderstandings it is often the fault of the church for not explaining properly what has been taught or practiced. If you, dear reader, are confused or befuddled by Church prac-tice, be assured that there is no such thing in the modern church as a daft question, and any and all enquiries about the nature of the faith will be warmly welcomed.

In fact Easter is the best time to find answers to such questions, because at Easter the Church focuses on the strangest yet the most important element of Christian faith – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That does seem like a foolish claim to make, that a man could die, be buried for three days and yet return to life, walking talking eating and interacting with others just as he did before. Yet it is the central pillar of Christianity, and al-most everything else we do is based upon it – baptism, communion, prayer, worship, mission, all these arise from a profound understanding of the resur-rection, but more than that, from an encounter with the risen Christ himself.

For, Christianity is not simply a collection of facts in a book, it is a relation-ship with God in Christ, a relationship which all are invited to discover.

With every blessing for a Happy Easter, Tim

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Share a bit of Easter ‘foolishness’ When was the last time you shared a bit of good old-fashioned Christian ‘foolishness’? Many early Christians eagerly embraced the label ‘foolishness’ for the good news they shared about Jesus. They didn’t think the Gospel was nonsense, though. They simply saw that, by the usual standards of the world, the sto-ry of the cross and resurrection was ‘foolishness’. Today, in a world ob-sessed with material success, the cross has lost none of its ‘foolishness’. Today, in a time when hope seems in desperately short supply, the ‘foolishness’ of the resurrection remains as powerful as ever. So, this East-er, I want to challenge all of us to rediscover, celebrate – and most im-portantly – share the delicious ‘foolishness’ of the cross and resurrection with those around us. The cross is ‘foolishness’ because it is a sign of com-plete failure by the usual standards. Things looked different when Jesus arrived triumphantly at Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, however. As he was heralded by great crowds, Jesus seems to be the epitome of success. But that was one day at the start of a very long week.

As the days went by, success disintegrated and faltered into Good Friday, when Jesus’s death on the cross was to redefine the depth of worldly failure. He seemed a failure through the betrayal and denial of his closest friends, a failure in his condemnation by the political and religious authorities and the crowds, a failure in the anguish and humiliation of his public torture, a failure in his pathetic criminal’s death on a cross - suffocated by the weight of his own broken body. Truly, from the foot of the cross the sign above his head, ‘The King of the Jews’, seemed so foolish as to be laughable. At Easter we discover that this ‘foolishness’ shouldn’t be accompanied by the laughter of derision, however, but rather by the laughter of great joy: the laughter of hope fulfilled beyond any expectation. The ‘foolishness’ of the resurrection is that the terrifying absence of Jesus’s body from the tomb tells of the eter-nal presence of the risen Christ! At that moment, the ‘failure’ of the cross is revealed to be God’s great triumph – a success beyond our imaginings.

If we share this ‘foolishness’, we become beacons of resurrection hope in a world paralysed by fear of failure. If we cherish this ‘foolishness’, we are liberated to be disciples who know that whether we succeed or fail by the world’s standards, the risen Christ is present with us. In our triumphs and joys, our disappointments and disasters, and even in our death, the risen Christ is there. He is with us because in the cross and resurrection the world’s greatest failure was shown to be the eternal triumph of God’s love. That is a ‘foolishness’ that world needs to hear in every generation. So let’s share it.

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THE SALINGS 100 CLUB If you would like to join the 100

CLUB, please contact Maya Hatcher 810887.

It costs £2 per month and can be paid by cash/cheque or standing

order.

SALINGS MILLENNIUM HALL

A MODERN HALL WITH LARGE CAR PARK

FOR PRIVATE & CORPORATE HIRE

PICCOTS LANE, GREAT SALING CM7 5DW

www.essexinfo.net/

thesalingshall

Contact: Mrs. Jo Peake Mon-Sat 09:00 - 19:00 Phone: 01371 850 260; E-mail: jopeake@btinternet.com

Village Hall Events in April

3RD,10TH,17TH,24th ART GROUP 10.30-15.30

9TH,16TH,23RD, 30th PILATES 11.00-12.00

4th VHMC TAI CHI 19.30-21.30

12th COFFEE MORNING 10.30-12.00

14th STEBBING PTA DANCE

15th CYCLE CLUB EVENT 07.30-14.30

17TH EXCEPTIONAL IDEAS EVENT 19.00-22.00

25TH FELSTED ART GROUP 13.30-16.30

27th APC AGM 17.30-22.00

100 Club Winners for Feb.:

1st Josephine Clark 2nd Alison Anderson

3rd Kate Elliott

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Great Saling Parish Council

Clerk to the Council: Mrs Cathryn Carlisle

Herkstead Green Bungalow Cornish Hall End Braintree Essex CM7 4HH - gtsaling.pc@outlook.com

Tele 01440 731964

www.essexinfo.net/greatsalingpc

Councillors Contact Details

Mr Peter Martin 07801236461

Mrs Diane Greenwood (Chairman) 01371 851763

Mr Colin Bennett 01371 850320

Sue Baugh 01371 850168

Kathy Jiggins 01371 850002

Clerk Cathryn Carlisle 01440 731 964

Please remember that everyone is welcome to attend our meetings; they are on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm in the village Hall.

Question time is always first on the Agenda, therefore you are not obliged to stay for the rest of the meeting if you do not wish to.

Hedges/Overhanging Branches:

If you have any greenery that is overhanging your property and af-fecting access to pavements or highways, please kindly cut it back. We have had complaints that access past some properties in the vil-lage is difficult because of overgrown plant life!

Braintree District Council: 01376 552525

Non Emergency Police: 101

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Parish Council Report Planning Applications

17/02302/LBC Minor internal and external alterations -Saling Hall Granted

18/00039/LBC To affix a satellite dish to the rear, north facing eleva-tion of the extension (built Circa 1985) Lower Hyde Cottage, Hyde Lane Gt Saling

18/00022/FUL & 18/00023/LBC Rebuild and extend single storey rear extension with the addition of an entrance porch – Holly Cottage, The Street Great Saling. Granted

Litter Pick

Litter Pick was held on the 10th March 7 people attended, many thanks to all those residents who turned up to collect rubbish. Thank you to Colin Monk who is picking litter from the straight to Blake End this area was bad.

Playing Field

The new concrete bollards have been installed, these were paid for by a grant from ECC Community Initiative Fund. the hedge was plant-ed by the Clerk and Chairman after the litter pick with the help of the 2 team leaders from the Community Pay Back Team.

Community Pay Back Team

The Community Pay Back Team will be working in the parish over the next few weeks, filling in the potholes in the village hall car park, trim-ming the bushes in the car park relaying the patio area outside the village hall which is moving due to the tree roots. Painting the litter bins, benches and many other little jobs.

If anyone know of any job’s, please let the Clerk know.

Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator

The Parish Council are looking for a Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator.

Annual Parish Meeting

The Annual Parish Meeting will take place on the 9th May 2018 at 7pm everyone is welcome, this is a meeting where residents can come and talk to the Parish Council. There will be a update from the Neighbourhood Plan Group.

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1st FINCHINGFIELD SCOUT GROUP There are four sections that meet in the

Scout Headquarters, Finchingfield.

Beavers 6-8yrs held on Wednesday evenings 5.45 – 7.00pm Cubs 8-10 1/2 yrs on Tuesday evenings 6.30 – 8.00pm

Scouts10 ½ -14yrs on Thursday evenings 7.30 – 9.00pm and Explorer Scouts 14–18yrs on Monday evenings 7.30 – 9.00pm

All sections are available to girls and Boys

We are currently recruiting Adult helpers for all sections

To find out more contact Mark Wells - Group Scout Leader

Tel: 01371 810447 email: finchingfieldscouts@outlook.com

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Great Saling churchyard

The Irish yews in the Churchyard have grown to unruly proportions and need a fresh start.

After taking expert advise, we are starting coppicing just ahead of the bird-nesting season. We will only be able to manage a small amount

of work this spring and hope to finish off the job next winter.

To show how it will work, the two English yews were cut right back by Eric Kirby some years ago and now present a fine entrance to the

Yard.

They have been cut to resemble cylinders. The Irish yews regrowth will be trimmed to the traditional flame shape.

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David Skeet

Plumbing & Heating Over 30 years experience

All plumbing & Heating work

Tel – 01371 810286

Mobile – 07891 943074

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OIL and LPG users

Don't install a new boiler until you look at the alternatives

Heat pumps provide better all-round heating, much lower energy bills and the government will even pay

you to install one!

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IF YOU ARE AFFECTED BY THE NOISE FROM GAS GUNS USED AS

BIRD SCARERS, PLEASE VISIT

http://www.b-ooom.co.uk/

B-OOOM is named for the noise of

gas guns and from the saying

Bang Out Of Order Mate!!!

The group is working to encourage crop growers to use visual deterrents eliminate nuisance noise pollution build a better understanding between crop growers and people

affected by noise in and around their homes and businesses Use this URL to report noise nuisance to Braintree Council or contact 01376 552525 to speak with a Environmental Health Officer: https://www.braintree.gov.uk/forms/form/426/en/report_a_noise_nuisance On Facebook? Visit https://www.facebook.com/BoomBirdGasGuns Using Twitter? Look for @gasgunboom

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Hedgerows are a significant feature of our agricultural landscape and were planted in the past as boundaries. Thorny blackthorn and haw-thorn made a stock-proof barrier, with hazel, holly and spindle colo-nising later. Ash, elm, field maple, hornbeam and oak trees were in-tegrated into such hedges and these nurtured specimens were man-aged as pollards, being cut off at head height on a regular cycle. In 1778 it was recorded that 85 percent of the hedgerow trees in Bar-wick in the parish of Standon were pollards, so these would have stuck up at regular intervals above the hedges. Some of the cut material was used as leafy hay for winter feed for livestock. Once the nutritious leafy branches of ash or elm had been eaten, the twiggy leftovers became excellent dry kindling. Larger poles were used for fencing, building repairs, handles or fuel. Timber trees in hedges were usually felled after about 50 years growth. Oaks provided structural material; elms became floorboards, coffins and especially weatherboarding (where it can be identified by its distinc-tive wavy grain). Historic surveys of the numbers, species and value of trees on many estates are lodged in record offices. An analysis of these records is included in a new book, Trees in England, in which the authors com-ment that in the past oak, ash and elm trees were an essential part of the local economy. Today, the situation is very different with the significant loss of hedge-rows and the trees within them. Most surviving trees are old oaks or ash, growing as uncut pollards with spread-ing crowns. Any mature elms are ex-tremely rare, but there is a small group in Tilty and another is recorded in Bartlow. Do you know of any other sur-viving elms? If so we would like to hear about them. Tricia Moxey, Trustee

Photograph: Old pollarded elms in a hedge in Tilty, they are wonderful scarce survivors within the Hundred Parishes.

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These sentences actually appeared in church

bulletins or were announced at church services:

This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

--------------------------

The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

-------------------------- Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the

back door. --------------------------

The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

-------------------------- Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please

use the large double door at the side entrance. --------------------------

And this one just about sums them all up The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sun-

day: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.'

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY STOP

STANSTED EXPANSION – 12 March 2018

AIRPORT CASH FOR COUNCIL FAVOURS

Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) has condemned a “cash for favours” secret agreement between the owners of Stansted Airport and Uttlesford District Council (UDC).

The deal between Stansted’s owners Manchester Airports Group (MAG) and UDC calls into question the impartiality of the council which is currently han-dling an airport planning application seeking significant expansion of pas-senger numbers. While it’s not unheard of for a developer to contribute to the costs of handling a planning application, this particular agreement has strings attached. The money is conditional upon UDC meeting target dates to speed up the progress of MAG’s planning application.

The planning application was submitted on 22 February and seeks permis-sion for an airport throughput of 43 million passengers per annum (mppa).

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By comparison, Stansted handled 25.9 mppa last year. If the application is approved, it would mean a 66% increase in passengers and a 44% increase in flights, compared to last year.

SSE Deputy Chairman Brian Ross commented “We’ve been concerned for some time about this planning application being rushed through and we’re now beginning to understand why this may be happening. In the interests of public trust and transparency UDC should immediately publish its agreement with MAG and disclose the level of financial contribution involved.” (Note 1)

MAG and UDC have agreed a final deadline of 18 July (Note 2) for determin-ing what by any standards is a highly complex planning application, covering 2,930 pages. This is just one month more than the legal minimum whereas the normal practice for large complex applications is to allow a far longer period. For example, the last comparable airport planning application – by BAA in 2006 for an additional 10mppa – allowed more than seven months for a decision to be made. This enabled detailed consideration of the impacts and extensive public consultation.

For a range of reasons – including the need to ensure that the planning ap-plication is considered purely on its own merits and is subject to the most thorough scrutiny – SSE wishes to see this planning application determined nationally by the Secretary of State rather than locally by UDC.

SSE’s concerns about UDC dealing with this planning application have been further heightened by information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showing that UDC planning officers held no fewer than 36 meetings with MAG during 2016 and 2017. UDC has told SSE that no formal minutes exist for 28 of the 36 meetings and has so far refused to provide the minutes for the remaining eight meetings on the grounds of confidentiality.

Brian Ross concluded: “It cannot be right for Stansted Airport to be able to buy a ‘fast-track’ pass from Uttlesford Council. This planning application needs the most thorough consideration and that will simply not be possible if Uttlesford Council continues to try to rush it through. The Secretary of State should intervene and take the matter out of Uttlesford’s hands.”

Members of the public can comment on this airport planning application by sending an email to stanstedairportplanningapplication@uttlesford.gov.uk quoting the application reference number UTT/18/0460/FUL and providing their name and address.

NOTES 1) http://stopstanstedexpansion.com/press498.html 2) https://www.uttlesford.gov.uk/article/4491/Key-dates-for-the-Stansted-Airport-application

FURTHER INFORMATION AND COMMENT • Brian Ross, Deputy Chairman, SSE, T 01279 814961, M 07850 937143, brian.ross@lineone.net • SSE Campaign Office, T 01279 870558; info@stopstanstedexpansion.com

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JANET C. DAVIES Dip.FD,MBIFD

BRAINTREE’SLADY FUNERAL DIRECTOR

Bereavement can be a distressing and bewildering time,

and Janet’s first duty is to offer

professional and sympathetic guidance.

Janet is able to offer the ‘Gentle Touch’

when arranging funerals either in the comfort of your own home

or in the pleasant surroundings at

Fern House

72 Coggeshall Road, Braintree CM7 9BY

or alternatively by appointment

at her Kelvedon Office

please r ing

01376 339300

Janet is dedicated to upholding the traditional values of respect

and dignity,

providing the very best care for the bereaved

Pre Paid Funeral plans available, giving you peace of mind and security in anuncertain world…….

Part of the Hunnaball Family Funeral Group

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CHURCH NOTICEBOARD Ministers: Revd. Tim Goodbody, The Vicarage, Ruffles Place, Stebbing CM6 3TJ, T: 01371 856080, E: the.goodbodies@btinternet.com Revd. Helen Pelly, Purples, Bardfield Saling, T: 01371 810369 E: Revhelenpelly@yahoo.com Assistant Curate: Revd Sue Hurley. The Rectory, Park Road, Little Easton, CM6 2JJ, T: 01371859158 E: sue@hurleyathome.com Administrator Pilgrim Parishes: Caroline Wildgoose, T: 01371606110 E: pilgrim.parishes.enquiries@gmail.com

ITTLE SALING/BARDFIELD SALING

Churchwardens: Mrs Helen Davies, Denbies, Bardfield Saling, Tel: 01371 850735, E-mail: helenr.davies@btinternet.com Mrs Deborah Reed, Bluegate Hall, Great Bardfield. Tel 01371810985. E-mail : home@theblueegg.co.uk PCC Secretary: Mrs Moira Grierson Rickford, Tel. 01371 850503 E-mail: mgr@felsted.org

GREAT SALING

Churchwardens: Mr Robert Bucknell, Onchors Farm, Tel: 07860521548, E-mail: robbucknell@me.com Mrs Lydia Roe, E-mail: lydia.bucknell@btinternet.com Treasurer: Mr Julian Dyer, Tel: 07768 124418, E-mail: Juliandyer@live.com PCC Secretary: Mr Richard Gleed, E-mail: rgleed@mac.com

DISCLAIMER: The magazine production team has the right to refuse, postpone or to edit any material received for publication and it is assumed that anyone submitting contributions has the copyright of

that material.

Any LOOSE-LEAF inserts are permitted only at the prior approval of the main distributer, Mr. Greg Coe,

E: grgcoe@yahoo.co.uk and need to be paid for.

For any queries related to ADVERTISING in this magazine as well as donations towards the magazine cost please contact:

Mr Julian Dyer, T: 07768 124418 , E: Juliandyer@live.com

NOTE: all advertising and contributions need to be in PDF, Word or JPEG format - i.e. camera-ready in A5 or A6 size

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