Many enjoy Settle Christmas Day Meal 2015 - Pictures

The day before ..The tables
are laid out on
Christmas Eve
ready for Christmas Day

50 people came to Settle Community Christmas Day Meal, including helpers.(details at end). (plus 3 extra casual visitors plus 2 people out to whom we sent food = 55)

Others in Settle were touched by the meal: In December I visited or contacted several people who came last year but were not coming this year, for various health or social reasons. They were pleased to be remembered.

I was also encouraged by the support we had from Settle Community in general for the event - a lot of people were pleased it was happening. 

It was held at St John's Methodist Church Hall and church. A new worship building has been built next to the hall, and just opened 2 weeks ago. We tried using this for the carol singing before the meal, and arranged the chairs in an almost circle.

Here are some pictures of the event:

Christmas Day Lunch 2015

Just one of the lunch tables

 In the kitchen

Carol singing in the worship room before lunch.

With Baby Jesus

After Lunch we had Pass the parcel, a time of Recitations and party pieces, and Singing led by Pauleen Wright including the Twelve Days of Christmas:

Judith playing the accordion for Pass the parcel after lunch

In the "Party Pieces Time"Chris reads a
poem about the Seven Ages of Man/ A student

Poem read by Rosie from a card she had received

Pauline leads "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

Finally Afternoon tea in the coffee room. A man called Len Cliff brought in a spare tree he had with lights attached...

Some highlights for me:

1. Derek singing "on Ilkley Moor" - He asked me to accompany him - I was convinced in the verses we had got stuck in an eternal loop..
2. Denise holding the lifelike "Baby Jesus"
3. We had some "worthy cases" - from someone who was unable to go and celebrate Christmas in the Lake District because the place where they would have stayed was flooded - To a lady who came because her friend was in hospital - to people who had lost loved ones - to people who have been before - some many times and just really enjoy coming.

I would like to thanks lots of people:

1. Most important of all: The people who came. If they did not come there would be no Christmas meal: including two people who were eventually unable to come because of having to go to hospital.
2. The chief cooks Martin and Pauline this year -  It is a big responsibility and a lot of work. Well done. And a big thank you to cooks in previous years: Christine and before that Ken and before I took over, Margaret Holgate and Jean)
3. Elga for making the beautiful table decorations, and for providing the cloths.
4. The helpers - I would like to mentions certain ones who were a fantastic help .. but then the list gets so long where would I stop?
5. St John's Methodist Church for making the facilities available and leaving the rooms so nicely decorated, and their concern that the event should go well. And their caretaker.
6. Age UK team for allowing us to use pans etc and their bunting, and for publicising the event.
7. The Craven Herald - and maybe our local correspondent Gill for publicising the event

Several people gave small donations privately towards the event and some shops contributed. A big thank you.

The Singing Kettle and their customers who raised £50 through a raffle of a hamper and contributed many goods. 



Several other shops in Settle contributed in kind: Speight and Watson gave Crackers. The Naked Man gave (I think) mince pies) 
(I'm checking - I may have one or two more places people to thank via Diane at the Singing Kettle)

Knights Table Cafe at Knight Stainforth gave a contribution including some lamb. 

The Coop donated £25 worth of goods.

The Coop donated £25 of goods.
And I'll also say "thanks"
for your excellent notice board.

Standing near the poster (top left) for the Christmas Day Meal  on the Coop excellent notice board

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Some extra notes:


50 people came to Settle Community Christmas Day Meal, (details at end).  The helpers paid too, and came to enjoy the day as well as to help. 
We also took two meals out (not charged for).
Three extra visitor/helpers came for a short while.
Two other people had been booked for coming but had to go to hospital.

36 people had the role "guest" and 15 people had the role "helper" in some form but all paid except for a few (5) special cases. varying from limited means/income to not paying in lieu of materials bought for the event.

We bought turkey crowns from the local butchers Drake and Macefield, and a Christmas Cake from The stall at the Victoria Hall Market. 

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comment from one of the volunteers:
"I've been wanting to attend and give a bit of help for a long time and this is the first year I've been able to. I enjoyed Christmas Eve as well, the community effort of working together over the presents. I had the same feeling as I used to when I helped to make the 'flags' with Jeanne Carr and co.-working together to produce something for the community. It was good to sit down with people one didn't know and find out about them."

Danny Maher

Danny Maher with whom I had so many wonderful music sessions in the Settle area, and who helped me build my first computer, died recently.

His funeral is on 23 Dec 2015 at 11am at Skipton Crematorium. Meeting at the Royal Oak, Settle afterwards.

He was a stained glass window maker and building up his business when I first knew him at Barrel Sykes in Langcliffe.

He played the flute and Irish pipes.

Making supper for the troups - At Stainforth Youth Hostel??

Pictures of Rainforest Fund Coffee Morning - Our Last coffee morning in the old foyer 1 Dec 2015

Thanks to all who made the coffee morning a success:

We raised  £125 - which this time will go to A Rocha International for work in Ghana (Savannah forest) and/or Kenya -  (This includes some sales from photo greetings cards that day too)

The first Tuesday of the month the coffee morning money goes to charity - click on the image on the right for a larger image to see what was raised in 2013-2014 ( The four larger amounts had church collections as well).

Thanks this Tuesday to:
To Christine and Philip who made flapjacks and tray-bakes and served the coffee
To Lesley who baked some scones
To Joan (Line Dancing) who gave me some cakes, and her sister from whom I bought a Christmas cake at Victoria Hall, and the man on the market from whom I bought some Wensleydale cheese to go with the cake
to the regulars who supported it (who may have taken their own photos on mobile phones) .
including regulars from from Hellifield - J.L and M. S
To Anne Martin who put up the banner at the back with pledges/donations towards the new church




People above:
LtR: ?, Fig(the dog), Mike, Jean, Wendy, Stephen D, ?, Clive, ?, John, Rita, Chris


Richard Pike (right) with friends Alan and ........



Above: On the table are my Rainforest cards for sale, displayed on tie-dye cloths from Sierra Leone.

Stephen Dawson - priest at the local Anglican churches - a former Methodist who has played the piano and organ here before.. has a yellow jacket from taking Althea to the Anglican Christmas lunch next door.

The two gentlemen (I think) are local visitors keen to visit the church before it closes. I take one for a quick tour of the church, including to see the fine "Loo" behind the minister's vestry.




There are many stories behind the above picture:
1. The banner was made by people on the church for the centenary 22 years ago. - Click on the picture to see it larger.
2. The flowers may have been prepared by Anne Gorner  who operates the flower rota week after  week - I need to find out if she prepared them that week., or if not , who.
3. Poster: Half the world's Primates are under threat of extinction.
4. The Gorilla I am holding will make a gorilla sound when I squeeze its hand
4. I had just learned how to buy a stock photo over the internet so that I could legally use the poster I had made on posts in Settle and tweeting it on the internet
5. I had bought the laminater a year ago (it will also do A3 ones) - though making laminated posters is rather an ungreen thing to do
6. I made the green kaftan type shirt "n" years ago from material I had bought in Sierra Leone.
7. It was my grandmother who knit the red waistcoat I am wearing,

See some of the cards:

Rain and floods in Upper Ribblesdale 5th December 2015

Heavey Rain was forecast this Friday and Weekend.
Here are some local scenes from Saturday

Rainforest Fund Coffee Morning on 1 Dec at Settle - Enjoy coffee, cake and cards

I printed out some posters for the coffee morning on 1st December at St John's Methodist Church, Settle

and went down to Settle to put some up.


Press releases in many papers earlier this week said: "More than half the  world's primates are threatened with extinction." (IUCN).

Gloomy.

Let's be positive.
"For £100 you can save an acre a whole acre of Rainforest."
A mere £100.

All welcome at 10am this Tuesday.


This coffee morning will be that last one in this church building.

This Sunday, on 6 December we are going to walk across the road to our new church building - attached to the church hall  itself. 

Our old building, fine though it is, costs a lot to maintain, and had we kept it would have needed hundreds of thousands spending on it - and we only use it one and a half days a week.

Do come to the coffee morning.
See the church.
Buy some beautiful greetings cards. (made by me) - Of places and flowers of the Settle area.

Xanthoria parietina - Bird-Perch Lichen - Orange Wall Lichen

 Learn your lichens 5.

Learn your Lichens Series
1. Arthonia radiata

2. Caloplaca flavovirescens

3. Acrocordia conoidea

4. Squamarina cartilaginea

5. Xanthoria parietina

Xanthoria parietina:  big, bright, bold and beautiful, and grows on the branches of so many trees and walls in Settle.

The name Xanthoria comes from 'xanthos', a Greek word meaning yellow

parietina means "on walls" - though, as you will see below, it grows on branches and metal bridge rails too.

For years I have called it Bird-perch Lichen because is grows where there is abundant nitrogen fertilizer - e.g. where there are bird droppings.

However it has many different English names including Maritime Sunburst Lichen as it grows on rocks in the spray zone.

It is indicates there are nitrogen compounds in the air, landing on the tree branches.

Here it is on the branches at the beginning of Watery Lane near Limestone View on 26 Oct 2015

It is a foliose lichen with orange apothecia

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On 20 November we had lots of rain, and river flooding. I went to Penny Bridge near the water level recording station. There was lots of Xanthoria parietina on the tree branches

 It was also growing on the metalwork on both sides of the bridge

It looks a lot greener when it is wet.

I have recorded it  elsewhere in this blog

The Trees in beside the Swimming Pool in Settle School Grounds

Base of the tree trunks in Malham National Park Car Park

Go out and have a look for some today!