Tuesday 21st January at the Village College

Members enjoyed a delightful talk about toys through the ages given by Debbie Proctor, assistant curator at the Cambridge Folk Museum. This evoked many happy childhood memories for those present, and the speaker was warmly thanked for her interesting talk by Carol Shaw (Chairman).

Tuesday 18th February at the Village College

Our speaker Nita Luxford gave a talk about three generations of a family who lived near the Ferry Boat in Holywell and got their living from the Great Ouse. There were many photographs showing how they shot wildfowl from a punt, baited eel baskets and cut reeds from the river. Other photographs of the family were taken by visitors to their house which was used as a B & B. Mr. Tom Metcalfe had no sons but passed all his skills on to his daughter's son, Mr. Tom Arnold, who carried on the business until his death in 1994. Carol Shaw thanked the speaker for a fascinating insight into this family's life and showing their connections with the river.

The Cambridgeshire Master Composter Programme is recruiting more volunteers this year!

You may now be familiar with the Master Composter Programme, which has been appearing in some Cambridgeshire Parish Magazines since last year. The Programme is being run by the County Council, working together with all the District Councils and HDRA Consultants, to promote home and community composting.

Volunteers are required to provide a network of local, friendly advice and support to people who already compost and those who want to start.

Master Composter programmes were established over 10 years ago in the USA and Canada. These.programmes have proved to be extremely popular and successful in promoting the benefits of home composting.

The Cambridgeshire Master Composter Programme is the largest of its kind, with over 100 volunteers. Nearly 1,500 hours of voluntary work have been completed so far.

Becoming a Master Composter is a great way to meet new people, learn valuable skills, provide leadership and benefit from being part of a team that makes a difference. Anyone over the age of 18 can become a Master Composter; you don't need to be an expert composter (or be composting at all) or have any volunteer or community group experience.

As a volunteer you will receive training in home composting and related environmental issues (provided by HDRA the organic organisation), a Master Composter resource pack and several day trips; including visits to a composting site and one of HDRA's organic gardens. All training expenses will be paid for; you only need to provide your time. Training will hopefully begin in May 2003. Once the training has been completed, you will be expected to spend 30 hours over the following year promoting home composting. These activities will be tailored to your individual skills and could be anything from giving a demonstration to your next door neighbours to giving a presentation to a class of school children or helping promote further compost bin sales. Upon completion of the training and 30 volunteer hours you will be awarded the title Master Composter and be invited to receive your certificate at an award ceremony.

If you are interested in becoming a Master Composter please contact Penny Holmes, HDRA Consultants, Ryton Organic Gardens, Coventry, CV8 3LG, email: pholmes@hdra.org.uk , telephone 024 7630 8202 or fax 024 7630 8225.

The Master Composter Programme is a partnership between HDRA Consultants*,

Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridge City Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Fenland District Council, Huntingdonshire District Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council. The project is being funded through a scheme that allows some Landfill Tax money to be used for research projects that will produce environmental benefits. This project has been funded by WREN using WRG plc Landfill Tax Credits.

Photographers are renowned for their dedication; they struggle to the tops of lakeland mountains, each one weighed down with the odd ton of cameras, lenses and tripods, they risk the wrath of family and friends keeping everyone hanging about while they wait for just the right light conditions, and they don't seem to mind the cold, rain, mud and the occasional heatwave.

In spite of this the blizzard at the end of January managed to bring the activities of Swavesey Camera Club, along with those of the whole region, to a complete halt. Our speaker for the evening, John Claydon, made a valiant effort to get to us and spent two hours sitting in his car in Saffron Walden, poor fellow; perhaps he was lucky as some Swavesey residents were stranded on the A14 flyover for up to five hours on that very same evening.

Those disappointed to have missed John's talk, "Portraits", will be pleased to hear it has been rescheduled for the first of May this year.

Luckily the bad weather didn't last and our other meetings went without a hitch. Of particular interest was our own Dudley Simons' excellent display of his work as a professional photographer over the last ten years, which included some delightfully intimate pictures of his own family. Later, in February, John Law, Chairman of the RPS Creative Group, shared with us his recent experimental work achieving dramatic effects with re-assembled sets of prints and transparencies, and even more unusual prints using textured glass and collages made from paint sample charts.

We still have many more interesting evenings ahead of us before we break for the summer; we will not be advertising a full Summer Programme but there are plans afoot to organise some outside visits to keep us going until September. Our new Winter programme is virtually finalised so WATCH THIS SPACE.

Mo Hadfield.
Swavesey Camera Club.

Over Cricket Club provides the opportunity for competitive cricket for boys and girls in the 8-15 age group from Swavesey and Over. We run junior sides in the CYCA Leagues at Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 level. We have ECB qualified coaches for all teams.

NEW PLAYERS WELCOME.

Dates for your diary

Sundays 30th March, 6th and 13th April (9.30 am) - Indoor training for Under 13's and Under 11's at Swavesey Village College. Limited places available - first come first served! Contact David or Andrew.

26th April - Saturday morning outdoor training starts at Swavesey Village College 10-12.

Grand Clothing Sale. Grown out of your cricket gear? Piles of old kit in the cupboard? Need some kit for the season? We are planning a sale of used clothing and equipment on the first and second training sessions (3rd and 10th May). If you have something to sell or are just willing to help out please contact one of the club organisers below.

Contacts:
David Clark Under 11 232811
Stephen Friend Youth Co-ordinator 232119
Jonathan Gordon Under 15 202274
Andrew Powell Under 13 232831

Multi Sports Sessions Ages 9 16
For boys & girls aged 9 16 years. Activities include badminton, basketball, Five a side football, netball, table tennis, tennis, snooker/pool table, table football and a selection of board games.

Dates; Monday 14th April Thursday 17th April (Closed Friday 18th April).
Time; 2.00pm 5.00pm, each day
Cost; £1.00 Per hour or £2.50 for 3 hours
Note; Booking not required, sign up on the day.

Cambridge Utd Football coaching Ages 6 14
The football in the community scheme will be running a four day course & fun sessions for boys & girls aged 6 14 years.

Dates; Tuesday 22nd April - Friday 25th April (4 days) (Closed Monday 21st April)
Time; 10.00am - 3.00pm. Meet in social room. Fields & sports hall used
Cost; £28.00 for 4 days activities
Note; Booking is required, please telephone (01223) 416238 Stuart Jacobs.

Judo / Self defence Ages 5 9 & 10 16
The course will introduce Judo / self defence to boys & girls aged 5 16 years,
Beginners as well as experienced participants are very welcome

Dates; Tuesday 22nd April - Friday 25th (4 days) (Closed Monday 21st April)
Time; Group 1. 5 9 years old 10.00 11.00am (Taking place in the Gym)
Group 2. 10 16 years old 1 1.00am 12.00pm " " " " "
Cost; £4.90 per hour £12.00 in advance for 4 days
Note; Booking is required, please telephone (01480) 458474 John Smith
Equipment; Long sleeved. tee shirt & tracksuit bottoms or a judo suit if you have one.

OWLS Holiday Club Ages 4-12
Sports, arts, crafts and games for boys & girls aged 4-12 years

Dates; 14th April - 17th April (4 days) / 22nd April - 25th April (4 days) & Monday 28th April
Time; 8.15am - 6.00pm Youth Club
Cost; £2.5 per hour or £16.50 per day
Note; Booking is required, for further details & booking please telephone (01954) 201654 Jayne Lancaster