Orston Produce Show 2024
And what a show it was!! It was so wonderful to experience a multi-generational Orston event with something for everyone. The atmosphere was positively buzzing and more than one person was heard to say ‘best show ever!’ We had a fantastic number of entries and it was especially lovely for everyone to see so many entries from the children. Mrs Smeeton had a very difficult job judging the handwriting! The Committee would like to thank Mrs Crosby and the Staff at Orston Primary School for enabling the children to complete their entries in school. Now that so many children have experienced entering the Show we’re hoping they will continue and expand their entries themselves next year! I went to Southwell Ploughing Match and there were loads of very inventive entries in the Children’s classes so come on Orston – we can do it too at our Show in 2025! We would like to congratulate EVERYONE who entered but especially the following who won our much-coveted trophies! – Jean Purdy, Wendy Richardson, James Barlow, Teresa McMahon, Astrid Moules, Holly and Samantha Littlefair and Imogen Russell. The Best in Show was won by Kim Shaw for her incredible Textile entry.
We are as always indebted to our sponsors who enable us to put this Show on and keep the entry FREE! So, thank you most sincerely to the Blue Diamond Garden Centre, Carlin Construction Ltd., Farrells Transport Ltd., Margo and Plum, Moore’s Nurseries and Garden Centre, Orston Parish Council, Orston Shooting Ground and Cllr Chris Grocock. Thank you also to our kind group of Judges who give their time and expertise so generously, and to the WI and the Garden Club for joining the fun and providing delicious drinks, cakes and beautiful plants! We couldn’t do it without you! And finally, a huge ‘thank you’ to the Produce Show Committee whose enthusiasm and willingness are unstinting! If you would like to get more involved in the running of the Show, Angela Probert our chairperson would love to hear from you!
And finally …… we were rather disappointed that there were no chutney entries this year which is unusual? Now is a perfect time to get a batch on the go to enter for next September’s show! Try Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall or Pam Corbin ( she wrote the River Cottage Handbooks) or bbc.co.uk – lots in there!
View all the photos at https://orstonparish.co.uk/gallery/2024-orston-produce-show
Time to empty that “Drawer of Doom”!
Many households have a “drawer (or even cupboard) of doom” full of old gadgets, unwanted cables etc. A recent study by ‘Recycle your electricals’ (https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/) estimated that “unused electrical goods could contain as much as £266m worth of copper”. With the drive to decarbonise the UK economy and a potential shortage of copper (important for solar and wind power generation, and electric vehicles), recovering materials from old electrical devices/ items is imperative. Apart from copper, this could also include steel, aluminium and lithium.
Recycling of small electrical items
As announced by Rushcliffe Borough Council recently*, from 28 October 2024, you can place small electrical items to be recycled on top of (but not inside) your blue bin. They stress that such items should never be put in the grey bin.
The current list of items is shown below, and may be extended in the future:
- Kettles
- Toasters
- Irons
- Lamps – must have bulb removed
- Hairdryers
- Straighteners
- Hair clippers
- Shavers
- Electric toothbrushes
- Games consoles
- Digital clocks
- Digital watches
- Remote controls
- Torches
- Calculators
- Laptops and tablets
- Cameras and camera chargers
- Mobile phones
- Radios
For items with removable batteries, Rushcliffe ask you to remove them, pop them in any bag and leave on top of your bin (or you can drop off at local supermarkets).
Prefer to donate to charity?
Many of the above items are also collected by charities; contact your chosen organisation or check the Donate section of the ‘Recycle your electricals’ website: https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/donate-electrical-goods/ (for example: Sue Ryder, The Salvation Army, Children’s Air Ambulance and Barnardo’s).
Hearing aids do not feature in the list above, but can be donated to ‘GiveHear’, who recondition and distribute to people in need: https://givehear.org/hearingaiddonation/.
Could it be repaired?
We’ve previously highlighted local Repair Cafes (https://www.repaircafe.org/en/), where volunteers will help you mend/refurbish all sorts of broken items (not just electrical gadgets). The nearest currently appear to be Keyworth, Sherwood and West Bridgford, with the next WB one being Saturday 7 December. Worth noting that Bingham is planning to start one in March 2025 (see Orston Sustainability Hub Facebook group), and volunteers are currently being sought. If you’d like to know more, please email: binghamrepaircafe@gmail.com (they’re looking for people to help with admin and refreshments, not just repairs!).
If you have ideas to help Orston be more sustainable, please contact: Fiona Winfield or Julian Humpheson. Email: orstonsh@gmail.com or Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/orstonsustainabilityhub.
Electric Assisted Pedal Cycles (EAPCs) – Need to know facts
What counts as an EAPC?
- An EAPC must have pedals that can be used to propel it.
- It must show either:
- the power output
- the manufacturer of the motor
- It must also show either:
- the battery’s voltage
- the maximum speed of the bike
- Its electric motor:
- must have a maximum power output of 250 watts
- should not be able to propel the bike when it’s travelling more than 15.5mph
- An EAPC can have more than 2 wheels (for example, a tricycle).
Licensing, tax and insurance
- You do not need a licence to ride one and it does not need to be registered, taxed or insured.
- The law states you must be 14 years of age or over to ride an e-bike on public roads. However, someone under 14 can ride an e-bike off road. Sixteen years is the minimum age to ride a moped in the UK, but this was reduced to 14 years for e-bikes, taking into account their lower levels of power.
Where you can ride
- If a bike meets the EAPC requirements it’s classed as a normal pedal bike. This means you can ride it on cycle paths and anywhere else pedal bikes are allowed. This includes both roads and off-road rights of way such as bridleways and byways.
- Unregistered and uninsured e-bikes that do not conform to regulations can only be ridden on private land where the public doesn’t have access, with the permission of the landowner.
Other kinds of electric bike
Any electric bike that does not meet the EAPC rules is classed as a motorcycle or moped and needs to be registered and taxed. You’ll need a driving licence to ride one and you must wear a crash helmet.
Getting vehicle approval for your electric bike
- An electric bike must be ‘type approved’ if either:
- it can be propelled without pedalling (a ‘twist and go’ EAPC)
- it does not meet the EAPC rules
- Approval should have been done by the manufacturer or importer before you bought it. If it’s been type approved it will have a plate showing its ‘type approval number’. Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) is the process of approving each individual vehicle against national technical requirements.
Information correct as at October 2024
Fake DVSA ‘parking penalty charge’
Two residents have recently reported scam texts advising penalty charge notices for parking. The latest scam text is followed up days later with further fake final payment reminder warnings
Parking penalty charge text
The first text is detailed and explains that if you don’t pay an overdue ‘parking penalty charge’ you may have to pay more, be banned from driving, or go to court. But there are tell-tale signs it’s fake.
- The phrase ‘parking penalty charge.’- There are only two types of parking fines you can get and they’re called a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) or a parking charge notice, not a ‘parking penalty charge.’
- The DVSA doesn’t issue parking tickets or parking fines. – It’s a government body that oversees driving safety and carries out driving tests and MOTs, but doesn’t issue parking fine notices.
- The threat that ‘your car may be banned from driving.’ – First, you or your car can’t be banned from driving after getting a parking fine, even if you don’t pay.
- Grammatical errors – The message contains errors, including commas, spaces and capital letters in the wrong places.
- The link – The one included is not an official government web domain, which should end in ‘gov.uk’. “TinyURL” is one of many link-shortening services that can mask real web addresses.
Final payment warnings
Those who’ve opened the original fake DVSA text have reported receiving several follow-up texts days later. The texts warn that time is running out to get an early-payment discount, and some include threatening final payment demands.
The links take victims to a copycat government website designed to steal your personal details.
Why parking fine texts are always fake.
Texts or emails threatening parking charges are always fake because real Penalty Charge Notices or parking charge notices must be sent to you by letter through the post.
The letter will be addressed to you personally, will include your vehicle registration number, details about where and when the parking contravention happened and will often include photos of where your car was parked.
Parking fines are issued based on your car’s registration number and the name and address your vehicle is registered to. Local authorities and companies that issue parking charge notices (PCNs) do not have access to your phone number or email address, so they can’t contact you using those details.
What to do if you receive a scam text message
- Ignore scam texts and don’t follow any links included in the message. You can report scam texts to the National Cyber Security Centre by forwarding the message to 7726.
- If you think you have shared personal information with a scammer, such as your registration number, name, address or contact details, be wary of further attempts to scam you using your details to get you to trust them.
- If you’ve shared bank account or payment card details, let your bank know so it can take extra steps to protect your money.
- If you’ve lost money, report it to your bank and Action Fraud or by calling 0300 123 2040.
Unblocktober is here!
In May this year, a fatberg made up of unflushable items, as tall as a 6 foot person and weighing 35 tonnes (the equivalent of 3 double decker buses), needed to be unblocked in am East London sewer! It took over 11 days with a team of 20 to sort it (https://www.thameswater.co.uk/news/abbey-mills-fatberg).
Launched in 2019, Unblocktober (https://www.unblocktober.org/) is an attempt to educate us and improve the health of our drains, sewers, watercourses and seas. In its first year, 4,500+ people across the country pledged to change their kitchen and bathroom habits at home/work. By 2023, a total of over 68,000 had been involved.
According to the Unblocktober website (https://www.unblocktober.org/), it’s estimated that:
- 11 million tonnes of plastic are dumped in the ocean every year
- 8 billion cotton buds are flushed down our toilets each year
- 48% of the British public pour fats, oils and grease (FOG) down their drains
- 48% of the British public have at some point flushed wet wipes down the loo
- Thames Water revealed that it removes approx. 19 billion wet wipes from its sewers every 5 years.
As Severn Trent state on their website (https://www.stwater.co.uk/news/news-releases/block-shock-for-severn-trent-customers-in-unblocktober/): “Blockages are the result of everyone flushing just one wipe here and there, or washing the odd bit of fat down the sink with hot soapy water, and not realising that it’s all collecting in the pipe and creating a big problem.”
What can we do to get involved?
- Stop flushing anything down the loo which includes even a small amount of plastic – this includes: dental floss, plasters, nappies, traditional cotton buds, tampons, wet wipes etc….
- Encourage others in your family or at work to avoid as well
- Avoid pouring any remains of oil, butter, cooking sauces etc down the drain (or down the loo!)
- Access the Unblocktober website to understand the issues
- Sign up to support the month-long initiative and encourage others as well
- Keep up the good work after the month is over!
Do you have suggestions to contribute on this topic or sustainability in general?
Head over to the Orston Sustainability Hub (OSH) FaceBook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/orstonsustainabilityhub; check out our Instagram a/c: https://www.instagram.com/orstonsustainability/ (or contact Fiona Winfield/ Julian Humpheson).
Phone ‘Spoofing’ Scams
“It must be the bank – the caller number is the same as the one on my card”
Many phones have what is known as caller ID – the number of the person calling is displayed.
Although people find this a useful way of screening the calls they want to answer from the ones they don’t, it’s not a reliable way of checking who’s on the other end of the line. Scammers can change the caller ID displayed on your phone. This is known as ‘spoofing’.
They do this either to hide their identity, or try to mimic the number of a real company or person.
They use ‘spoofing’ to pretend they are calling from a genuine number e.g. the victim’s bank or credit card company, utility provider, or a government department. Their aim is to steal sensitive information such as bank details or log-in details in order to gain access to the victim’s cash.
Calls from ‘spoofed’ numbers can come from anywhere in the world.
Remember
- Never rely on the caller ID displayed on the phone as the sole means of identification. Instead hang up and find the phone number on your account statement or on the company’s or government department’s website to check the call is genuine.
- If possible use another phone, or wait at least 5 minutes before making a call. This ensures the line is automatically cut off so you will no longer be speaking to the scammer or an accomplice.
- Never answer any questions which might have financial consequences.
IT’S SMART TO BE SUSPICIOUS
Bon Moor Drain
The Parish Council has been in diplomatic negotiations with Nottinghamshire County Council regarding our request for formal management protocols for the upper reaches of the Bon Moor Drain (“Stink Dyke”). This drain is redundant and dry for most of the year and sprouts abundant vegetation which blocks it. This greatly increases flood risk to Orston when the drain is suddenly overwhelmed with water from heavy rainfall and drainage from higher land.
The Inland Drainage Board (IDB) is adamant that the cleansing of this drain is legally the responsibility of ‘riparian owners’, i.e. All the residents/landowners who abut the drain, or if they are tenants – their landlords.
Whilst the Parish Council hopes and expects riparian owners to meet their legal responsibilities some are elderly and/or infirm and cannot realistically be expected to struggle in the drain with cutting implements. The ‘Grafters’ have done sterling work in trying to clear the ‘Bon Moor’ for years to allow flood water passage but THEY, also, are not in the ‘first flush of youth’.
The Inland Drainage Board has been extremely helpful in trying to keep the Bon Moor Drain free of vegetation and rubbish.
The dyke when clear of vegetation
The IDB does this as a ‘favour’ but, as such, it is not the major priority for them as they have a full and busy schedule of work that IS specified as their priority. A great deal of time is spent by O.P.C. in trying to ‘call in’ this favour at appropriate times to minimise our flood risk.
At the time of writing this, to keep you informed, we are working with Dr. Josh Wells, the Principal Officer for Flood Risk Management, Highways and Transport for Nottinghamshire County Council.
We will keep you informed of any developments in this important matter.
Meantime, if your property has been affected by flooding please can you contact Gerry McMahon on 07971 443346 or email cllrgerrymcmahon@orstonparish.co.uk
For more help and advice about flooding please visit this Nottinghamshire County Council webpage https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKNOTTSCC/bulletins/3b6b947
Thank you
O.P.C.