Little Thetford .org

The latest village newsletter is now online. If you’re in the village – a printed copy should have already come through your door.

Local artist Jamie ‘Lloyd’ McCullough is showing off his skills in a new video titled “4 Eyes”. The video follows Jamie’s initial surprise at finding himself in his kitchen. Let us know what you think.

Jamie says he purchased a green cloth and shot himself against this background. He composited the shots in Apple iMovie using a technique called Chroma-Key. This is all the more remarkable when you consider Jamie has Usher Syndrome; deaf from birth and now almost totally blind.

(Also published on the Limping Chicken blog)

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In October 2012 we reported in our East Cambridgeshire wheelie bins article that East Cambridgeshire District Council was one step closer to approving the roll-out of wheelie bins as part of their waste management. We can now report that, according to the Ely Standard, that wheelie bins could be in place by September. The proposed changes are listed on the East Cambridgeshire web site recycling changes page. Their frequently asked questions page tells us that if we don’t have room for bins the council “will be surveying all properties in the district to see if they are suitable for storing bins, and that they can be safely left out for collection. If your property cannot accommodate the bins, you will keep your brown sacks and black box”. It is not yet clear exactly what criteria the council will use to decide if a property is suitable.

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Cambridge News reported^[1] that a deal with BT has been agreed today which will provide ninety-percent of Cambridgeshire homes with superfast broadband by 2015. The deal is due to be signed by Cambridgeshire County Council and British Telecom in March this year. This should be good news for Little Thetford until you read the small print. Cambridgeshire County Council’s press-release says “More than 90% of homes and businesses in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough will be able to receive superfast broadband (at least 24 Mbps) with basic broadband (2 Mbps minimum) available to very nearly 100% of premises by 2015″.^[2]

According to the council, last years Connecting Cambridgeshire campaign, which we reported on during June last year, received 24,000 responses from residents and businesses in the area. This made it “the largest response rate in the country and showing the huge demand for better broadband in our area”.

In this context, superfast broadband means internet speeds of at least 24 megabits per second. To find out your current broadband speed, use this link then click Begin Test when it appears. But note that speeds vary by time of day and by day of week.

See also Connecting Cambridgeshire press release: Connecting Cambridgeshire lands super broadband deal.

John McCullough

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¹Havergal, Chris (4 February 2013). “Deal done to deliver quick internet connections“. Cambs News (Online)
²Pasfield, Eleanor (4 February 2013) “Connecting Cambridgeshire lands super broadband deal” Cambridgeshire County Council: Press release

The latest village newsletter is now online. If you’re in the village – a printed copy should have already come through your door.

We reported two-years ago that the article on our Bronze-Age flesh-hook appeared on the Wikipedia front-page. At that time, we did not have a copyright free image of our flesh-hook to show our readers. A friend of the village, Dr Peter Hoare, kindly took a photograph of our flesh-hook during one of his visits to the British Museum.

^* Image Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Dr Peter Hoare

The Ely Standard reported today of the closure of the Little Thetford Senior Citizens Club due to a lack of members. Anyone wishing to enquire about this contact us here or contact Rose Bussingham who is holding all the club documents.

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Popular village pastel artist Claire McGinley recently completed her MA in Children’s book illustration at Anglia Ruskin University. We took a look at recent additions to her web site and were mightily impressed.

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The Little Thetford catch-water drain looked a little full this afternoon, 20 December 2012, after rain throughout the previous night and much of the day. Built in 1838 to prevent water from the high ground draining onto the surrounding low-lying fields, the drain circles around the village to the South and East. This photograph was taken using an iPhone 4s whilst looking East from the bridge between Popes Lane and Holt Fen.

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The 1st Little Thetford Brigade, formerly the 1st Little Thetford Girls Brigade, is delighted to announce their forthcoming concert held at St James’ Church, Stretham from 7.00pm on Sunday 13 January 2013. During the one and a half hour concert, the brigade will be playing traditional music on their belleplates.

The brigade normally meets on a Thursday during  term-time at St George’s Church, Little Thetford between 6.00pm and 7.30pm. Membership is open to both boys and girls of all ages.

Please send us your pictures of this event.

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