The Fete will be opened by Peter Coleman., There will be all the usual attractions:

Boys Brigade

The Wodehill One-Steppers Jazz Band

Family Dog Show Cash Raffle

Tombola Children’s Sports

Lucky Programme Draw Children’s Stalls Ice Creams

Refreshments Many Sideshows

Gifts White Elephant Bottle Stall

Books Cakes Plants Produce

Fete Working Party on 2^nd May, from 10.00am, at Doreen Wheeler’s.

(entry fee – £1 per dog per class)

Classes:

1. Children’s Handling (14 years and under).

2. Puppies under 1 year.

3. Country Sporting Dog or Bitch.

4. Best Rescue or Re-homed Dog or Bitch.

5. Best Condition Dog or Bitch.

6. Dog or Bitch with the Most Appealing Eyes.

7. Best Cross-bred Dog or Bitch.

8. Dog or Bitch the Judge would most like to take home.

9. Best in Show.

Sponsors needed! If you are interested in sponsoring a class for £5 please contact Jill Cheadle 01234 720261.

Letter from Rachel and Peter who taken over the Bell during May.....

We are Peter and Rachel and are currently running a Greene King pub on the outskirts of Cambridge.  Due to the recent arrival of our baby daughter Rebecca, we need to move to a pub with larger living accommodation and are very excited to have been offered the Bell.

Having come from a village similar in size to Odell, we fully understand the important place a pub needs to play in village life.  We are particularly aware of our responsibilities given that it is the only pub in the village, and we very much hope to ensure that the Bell plays a central role in your community.   This is very important to us, for personal as well as business reasons, and we are looking forward to making Odell our family home.

The Bell is one of the loveliest pubs we have viewed and we don’t feel that any major changes are needed to the pub itself, as it has character and charm in abundance.  Our emphasis will be on ensuring that we have a well-kept cellar, offer a varied menu of good quality, traditional food and provide friendly service.  Most importantly, we will be doing all we can to bring back the much needed stability that may have been lacking in recent times.

It will be necessary for us to close for a couple of days but we will be open for business on Thursday 12^th May.  We look forward to meeting you all soon.

Regards

Rachel & Peter

The Humble Bumble

I like bumblebees...and once more I find myself watching these attractive, fat, hairy little creatures as they bumble around all day - never seeming to go anywhere - but terribly busy doing it! You cannot imagine a hot, summer's day without them and yet they are one of the first creatures to emerge into the early spring sunshine...and one of the last to disappear at the year's end.

The very large, single, bees that we see, sometimes as early as March, are the over-wintered queens, freshly emerged from hibernation and in urgent need of seeking out the pollen of the first catkins and pussy willow. They need to feed themselves up and gain strength so they may find suitable nest sites, probably a hole in the ground or a gap in an old stone wall, in which to raise the season’s new crop of bumblebees. The fertilised queen is the sole survivor of the previous year.

There are 22 species of bumblebees in this country. Fat and hairy, as light as thistledown, they are a delight to the eye. Broad striped, narrow striped, orange backed and yellow tummied, the buff-tailed bumblebee is Britain's largest bee.

The queen is able to make such an early arrival in the year, and survive the early spring frosts, because of a special muscle structure which gives her the ability to create and retain heat, thus enabling her to nurture those first eggs and larva that she creates in the spring.

Bumblebees face a surprising number of enemies - not least man himself: the over-tidy gardener and the farmer as they clear away all the weeds and undergrowth that provide cover for the nests and then spray the area generously with copious amounts of weedkiller, to say nothing of the over-enthusiastic use of the lawn mower. Badgers love to eat bumblebee nests. They gobble it all down, nest, bees, larva, honey - the lot! Then we find that some bumblebees are a menace to their own kind. Of the 22 species of bumblebee, six are known as "cuckoo bumbles", which show the same character traits as the birds they are named after. The cuckoo queen is unable to feed and care for her own young because she does not have the pollen collecting sacs attached to her legs like the other varieties. To get round this problem she will have to invade her neighbour's nest, kill their queen, and then lay her own eggs in the nest to be cared for by the host workers. At first they will attack and sting the invading queen but she is so designed that she can survive the assault and the workers will finally accept the usurper.

With the disappearance of many of our honeybees due to the destructive varroa mite we are becoming increasingly dependent on our wild bumblebees as they pollinate up to 80% of our home grown food plants. They are also much friendlier than the honeybee as they rarely sting people. There are no swarming masses and they are full of personality.

In the autumn the surviving males will mate with the new generation of queens, after which the male bees die. The young fertilised queens then seek out their winter shelter, sometimes emerging on a warm day to feed on the pollen of the ivy flowers to top up their strength to get them through the winter weather. Then, one warm, sunny day in spring, the new queen emerges to start the entire cycle over again.

We thank you all for all your caring thoughts and help while Florence was in hospital. She is now at home and making progress daily. Also, thank you for the help and love shown to Ken who is not in one hundred percent good health himself.

We walk with faith and not by sight as we take each step daily.

The Senior Citizens’ summer garden party is to take place on

6^th July

at 3.00pm,

in Roma’s garden.

All senior citizens are invited.

Our speaker at our April meeting was Lee, a producer from Three Counties Radio. He started working for them as a schoolboy of 11. He was fortunate to be offered a job with them only weeks after finishing his media journalism course at Nottingham University. He has undertaken many roles whilst with the radio from sports presenter to newsreader to his present position of producing the Milton Keynes edition of the Breakfast Show. He told us a little of the history of the station and the hopes for its future. He was willing to answer all our questions and had brought along some embarrassing out- takes from Three Counties Radio and other radio stations. It was a very entertaining and interesting evening.

This will take place in the Village Hall on May 10^th at 7.30. This meeting is our A.G.M. when we review the past year and look forward to the coming one. It also gives us the opportunity to thank everyone who helps to keep the W.I. active in Odell.

Our hostesses are Lynette Hall and Audrey Dempsey

The W.I Coffee Morning in aid of the Church Fabric Fund raised approximately £170. Thank you to the people who made the effort to attend and support us.

Amended plans for disabled access have been prepared for re-submission to the Council. All this is subject to securing sufficient funding, and during the period of delay, major changes have

Electronic mail address

email is mag@jonhudson.net 

http://www.jonhudson.net/

FAX number
01234-721004

Back to the Odell Home Page

Last revised: April 26, 2005.