I'm a great fan of the BBC TV's Autumnwatch programme (equally Springwatch, come to that), and can usually be found watching wild life from the comfort of my armchair.  However, yesterday, I had a close and unexpected encounter with, what I think was a roe deer on the outskirts of Bishopthorpe.  

 
I was driving out of the village at 8.45 a.m. towards York and had just travelled over the brow of the flyover on Bishopthorpe Road when the deer leaped over the barrier from the racecourse side.  I noticed, in particular, the doe's white rump as it bounded across the road just in front of me and leaped into the trees on the other side.  There was no danger of my feasting off roast venison that night as it moved at quite a pace.  What a beautiful, if brief sight on a sunny, autumnal day. Eat your heart out Simon King!

See the website of The British Deer Society for descriptions of deer species in this country: http://www.bds.org.uk/iqs/sid.06256940550719428409936/roe.html

 
Has anyone else sighted deer in or around the village?  Let us know by commenting on this piece.

Field 84 sounds like something you might find in the planned world of 1984--an area of permitted recreation or set aside for the use of party officials.

Not so of course, for it is a parcel of Parish Council owned land close to the river just south of the camp site and boatyard.

About ten years ago it was planted out by voluntary activity, but inundation and incomplete maintenance have taken their toll, and the land - kept for local people and community groups to use - has become overgrown.

Now the Parish has entered into a deal with York Marine Services Ltd to whom the land has been rented.

Vegetation has been cleared and a cinder path laid away from the river to the steps up to the playing fields.

And the deal? Four new moorings complete with a timber landing stage have been created, and bank side vegetation cleared. Field 84 is to be maintained as a picnic site for local people, and they may also fish from the river there.

The Parish Council - we - will be getting £1500 a year rental income.

Source: Parish Council Minutes

We hope that you like the new look News pages - the Bishopthorpe blog. The new styles allow us to take advantage of some of the new features of the latest release of software, such as additional pages, and membership facilities.

When you read a story here and in other new-look pages you will see a little speech bubble and a blue star next to the date.

Click on the speech bubble to comment on what you have read. If you have registered as Bish dot net member your comment should appear straightaway. If not it will be held for approval by site editors.

You can sign up to be a member - and comment and even write your own stories (more on this later).

Click on the blue star if you like a particular story - give it a star rating for interest or whatever!

REMEMBER REMEMBER NOT THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER BUT THIS SUNDAY 2ND NOVEMBER AT 11.30am WHEN TICKETS FOR THIS YEARS PANTO 'SNOW WHITE' GO ON SALE AT THE EBOR.

ALL RECENT PERFORMANCES HAVE BEEN A SELL OUT WITH THE MORE POPULAR SHOWS SELLING OUT WITHIN MINUTES LAST YEAR.

FIRST NIGHT IS TUESDAY 9TH DECEMBER RUNNING THROUGH TO SATURDAY 13TH DECEMBER.

DON'T MISS OUT

For some time now Bish dot net has hosted a blog written by our local City of York Councillor.

This has been expanded into a web site that is now live here.

Floral Elegance is the name of a new business in Acaster Lane that opened yesterday.

Providing flowers for all occasions, giftware and vases, the new enterprise is run by Sue Dodsworth, pictured below in her new shop.

Our Bishopthorpe site had a nice mention recently on another web site produced by Will Perrin (who I am told works at the Cabinet Office). He says:

The internet is the first port for new information these days - ask any encyclopedia salesman. The internet can define how places appear to the world.  For cities Google turns up loads of web pages - many of them commercial.  But in the UK search engines turn up very little content by local people for small communities and even large towns.   So good local websites, firmly about a place, frequently updated by volunteers stand out and often do well in Google. The less well known a place is the more a good local community site can rise to the top of popular search engines and define the place online.

A great example is the little village of Bishopthorpe (pop. 3,000) just south of York ... linked to a marvellous community site there run by volunteers. Bishopthorpe is a small village, and the site is only updated a few times a month.  But it is the only substantial online presence for the village and (the) site rises effortlessly to the top of search engines. And it plays a strong role in how Bishopthorpe is presented to the world.

You can read more about this here.

The gates to the churchyard are unlocked every morning and locked at dusk every evening so that residents and visitors can take a look around.

From 1 October 2008 new rules apply for householders wanting to pave over their front gardens - something we see more of in Bishopthorpe.

You will NOT need planning permission if a new driveway uses permeable (or porous) surfacing which allows water to drain through, such as gravel, permeable concrete block paving or porous asphalt, or if the rainwater is directed to a lawn or border to drain naturally.

If the surface to be covered is more than five square metres planning permission will be needed for laying traditional, impermeable driveways that do not control rainwater running off onto roads.

What is the problem with paving over front gardens?

Serious flooding in 2007 caused loss of life, disruption of peoples' lives and damage estimated at about 3bn GBP. In many cases flooding happened because drains could not cope with the amount of rain water flowing to them.

The effects of climate change mean that this kind of heavy rainfall event and flooding may occur more often in the future.

The drains in most urban areas were built many years ago and were not designed to cope with increased rainfall. More water is entering the drains from new developments and paving front gardens adds to the problem.

Although paving over one or two gardens may not seem to make a difference, the combined effect of lots of people in a street or area doing this can increase the risk of flooding.

The harm caused by paving gardens is not limited to just flooding. Hard surfaces such as concrete and asphalt collect pollution (oil, petrol, brake dust etc) that is washed off into the drains. Many drains carry rainwater directly to streams or rivers where the pollution damages wildlife and the wider environment. (Paved areas will also reflect heating during hot periods and can cause over-heating of houses).

To keep hard surfaces to a minimum a driveway can be created that has just two paved tracks where the wheels go.

These can be surfaced with blocks, asphalt or concrete, but to provide a durable construction they should have sub-base below.

The area between and around the tracks can be surfaced in gravel or planted with grass or suitable low growing plants. Water must drain from the tracks into the surrounding permeable area.

Typical width is between 300mm and 600mm for each track.

For more information see here.

Thursday 9th of October, 7.00 - 9.00pm, Village Hall, Bishopthorpe

What do you think about the local area?
Are there any particular good things about living here?
Are there any problems you think rural people are experiencing?

We are looking for people who would like to come along to a discussion about Bishopthorpe and the surrounding area. We will use maps to help us locate the things you are telling us about.

If you want to participate please contact Annemarieke de Bruin at adb503@york.ac.uk or call 01904 321267.

You have to register to come to this event. For more information have a look at our website: www.sei.se/relu/fieldwork.

For those readers with a few quid squirreled away, if its in a British institution - bank, building society, assurance company etc. - you can check the exact details of the new Financial Services Compensation Scheme rates here.

According to the City of York's planning website, the application for a new marina at Bishopthorpe has been withdrawn. Can anyone comment on the circumstances of this?