To see a copy of the Chairman's report from the Annual Parish Meeting held last Wednesday in the Village Hall please go to the Parish Council page.

Stewart Harrison

Further to our story (here), there have been developments at the old churchyard. 

Bish dot net has learnt that the Trustees (who are responsible for the churchyard in its entirety) have closed off the path around the site and the site itself whilst work is carried out.  The lighting has been repaired at a cost of over £500, and CCTV has been installed. A donation of soil has been delivered, and our picture below shows workman levelling it out along the river bank in order to build up the path, and provide footings for the ironwork fence panels that will be installed along the river side of the church yard. 

An application has been made for funding to install the fencing, and once done access to the church yard will be by the front gates that will be kept locked at night. 

The Trust has published an update on the current situation that can be downloaded and read in pdf here. 

Does your internet access include telephone calls, or do you have a pre-paid bundle for landline phone calls?

If you do you probably still have to pay for 0870 and similar numbers. However help is at hand at a web site that you can search for alternative landline numbers to those advertised by companies, government and so on.

Just go to http://saynoto0870.com  and search for the organisation you want to call. You can also add landline numbers yourself to the web site. We used the service to get a no extra charge call to National Express East Coast customer services.

BISHOPTHORPE PARISH COUNCIL

ANNUAL   PARISH   MEETING

Including a Presentation on the

Development of the Riverside

From the New Owners of

York Marine Services

  Wednesday 7th May 2008

In the VILLAGE HALL at 8pm

AGENDA

 1.      Apologies

2.       Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting 24^th April 2007

3.       Chairman’s Report incorporating the Financial Report

4.     Charities Report

5.     Community Constable’s Report

6.       Bishopthorpe Millennium Trust Report

7.      York Marine Services

8.          Any other business.

Our representative on the City of York Council is John Galvin, who stood in the last local election for the Conservatives. Mr Galvin lives in Bishopthorpe, and has recently retired. This will give him more time for local affiars, and for the cacti and succulents that he grows and tends in his greenhouse.

Now Mr Galvin has accepted an invitation from the Bish dot net team to write his own web log on the site. You can read his thoughts here.

Walkers and people interested in the history of Bishopthorpe will be disappointed today.

Steel barriers have gone up in Chantry Lane and along the river bank barring access to the old St Andrew's Church. 

The redvelopment of the riverside area is a long-term project lead by the St Andrews Trust that has been overseeing the work.

According to a Trustee, the reason for the closure is an estimated £5000 worth of vandalism. Railing spikes have been hacked off, stonework damaged, and the lighting shot out with an air rifle. Because this has left exposed electrical circuits the area has been cordoned off to prevent further damage and possible injuries.

It is not known at this stage how long the barriers will stay up, nor where the funding is coming from for repairs. A lively debate at the Ward Committe held on Thursday night saw local people concerned at the blocked access, and the danger of creating a hidden zone where further damage may take place.

Anyone with information about the identity of the criminals, thought to be local, who vandalised the area, should ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or the Police on 0845 60 60 24 7, or email yorknpt@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.

Snow White

Performance dates are Tuesday 9th - Saturday 13th December 2008, evenings at 7.30pm and a matinee at 2.30pm on Saturday. Due to the overwhelming success of our cabaret-style evening on the final night performance for the last five years, we intend to repeat this treat again. Please note that this final performance will be ADULTS ONLY.

Tickets will go on sale at the Ebor Inn in Main Street, prices to be advised in due course. Telephone the Ebor on 01904 706190 for details.

[From the Ebor Players Website] 

Are you connected to the internet by Virgin Media, BT or Talk Talk? The you had better watch out.

Apparently all three have contracted to extract the details of every web page you look at and sell this to an 'advertising broker'. So you can get 'targeted advertising'. If you don't like this idea, Talk talk will let you opt out. 

The company doing this is called Phorm.

There is a lot more on this, and a chance to take action here.

You really should read all about this.