Jubilee Book Now Available

The final version of the Jubilee Book, recording the events of the village Diamond Jubilee street party can now be seen here on Blurb.


Don't forget you can subscribe to the website by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email box'.


All material © Philip Stone 2012

Harvest Festival, St Margaret's Church

Pulpit decorated for Harvest Festival 2012

A Harvest Festival service will be held at St Margarets Church , High Hutton, Huttons Ambo on Sunday 30th September at 630pm (this evening).

All welcome, there will be a chance to meet and have refreshments afterwards.

St Margaret's Window

Sorry about the late posting of this, your editor promises to get his act together in the future...

All material © Philip Stone 2012

Church Gates Gone - For Refurbishment

Church gates and evening mist

The gates at St Margaret's church in High Hutton are old friends and over the years they've provided me with many a photo opportunity. They also feature in weddings, it's traditional for the children of the village to tie the gates closed with string during the ceremony and then demand payment to release the newly wed couple.

Last leaf, High Hutton

But age has scarred the gates and frost has cracked the pillars - so the parochial church council has found some funds to restore them. The gates have been removed temporarily so that they they can be shot-blasted and repainted and the pillars repaired and they should be back in a few weeks.

Church Gates, High Hutton

If you like these pictures you can see a small gallery of black and white photographs taken around and in the church here on our flickr site.

All material © Philip Stone 2012

Full Moon - Harvest Moon

Full Moon over the Wolds, from High Hutton

The harvest has been in full swing for weeks now, we're officially in Autumn and the nights are drawing in. Often in September we see a fat full moon hanging on the horizon and call it a 'Harvest Moon' - but what is a Harvest Moon and why does it seem so big?

The Harvest Moon is defined as the full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox, the day when the length of day and night are equal and the sun crosses the celestial equator and heads south for the winter. This year that day is September the 22nd and the nearest full moon falls on September 30th, so the next full moon will be a Harvest Moon.



Full Moon and Pampas Grass, High Hutton

And the size? That's down to something called 'The Moon Illusion'. When the moon is seen near the horizon it often appears to be larger and closer than when it is high up in the sky. The reason is still hotly debated by psychologists; one theory suggests that when we see the moon next to recognizable objects on the horizon (houses, trees etc) we judge the size of the moon to be large and near the those objects, but when the moon is high in the sky we have nothing to compare it to and judge it to be small and distant.

But whatever the reason, get yourself outside on the evening of the 30th of September and enjoy the sight of a big and beautiful Harvest Moon rising over the Wolds.

All material © Philip Stone 2012

Welcome To Autumn

Straw Bales near Low Hutton

It's here, like it or lump it, autumn has arrived. Or has it?

An astronomer would say no, autumn begins with the autumnal equinox, when the length of night and day become equal, this year that happens on the September 22nd.

The Met Office on the other hand, defines autumn to start on the 1st of September and for many people the August bank holiday marks the end of Summer.

Harvesting in Coachfield, High Hutton

Harvesting oilseed rape at Orchard Corner

 But you don't need a dictionary definition to tell you. The sky has turned that extra deep shade of blue, the heat of the sun is cozy rather than 'blazing June' hot, and there is a melancholy echo in the trees caused by the combine harvester chewing its way through another field of corn. The fields are full of bales, rose hips are swelling in the hedgerows and a fat moon hangs in the sky.

 It's here all right, welcome to autumn.

Rose hips



Elderberries

All material © Philip Stone 2012

Harvesting on The Rake

Harvesting on The Rake

It's August and harvest time is here. This evening I heard the sounds of farm machinery in the distance and hurried down the lane to if I could get a picture of a combine harvester at work. I was in luck, Richard Wainright, farm manager, and his colleagues were harvesting corn on The Rake, the field next to Rake's Lane.

The Claas finishes a swathe

Richard told me that harvesting had started late this year because of the wet summer, he grabbed a handful of straw and gave it to me - it was still not completely dry. Meanwhile up on the field the big Claas combine finished cutting a swathe of corn and made a cautious, slow turn, before heading back up the field.

Dry enough to cut?

Richard observed that they were having to take it slowly because the sun had gone -it was late evening - and the corn was getting damp. Once there would have been more time for this job, two combines would have been served by two or three tractors and at lunchtime they would have parked up and eaten lunch together. Now costs have to be kept down and one combine is kept moving continuously, served by two tractors.

Once the corn is cut, oilseed rape will be the next to be harvested, a job made harder by modern varieties of plant. These are short, which maximises yield, but modern, sophisticated harvesters are needed if they are to be cut efficiently.

Waiting for another load

Then Richard had to return to his tractor and trailer - the combine was ready to offload more corn.

All material © Michelle Stone 2012

2012 Produce Show - Results and Judges Comments

The 58th Huttons Ambo Flower & Produce Show took place at the Village Hall on Saturday August 4th 2012.

It was a marvellous day despite the stormy weather. Entry numbers were surprisingly good in view of our inclement growing season and there was plenty of excellent elderflower cordial and cake post judging to make everyone smile.

Thank you and well done to everyone who supported, judged, entered and helped.

You can download the results and some of the Judges Comments as a guide for future entries, here.

Huttons Ambo Show 2012 Results - word document
Huttons Ambo Show 2012 Results - pdf document

Judges comments 2012 and 2011 - word document
Judges comments 2012 and 2011 - pdf document

4 members of the show organising team are now standing down after several years of service for which we thank them.

However, this is almost half the committee.

We urgently need new Committee Members
If we do not find some volunteers by February 2013 then it may not be possible to deliver a show next year.

The commitment is about 2 meetings a year plus small tasks and support/attendance over the show weekend. Please contact Liz Ellis as soon as possible if you are interested on 01653 699769 or by email.

Notification of the show date for the 2013 or its cancellation

will be posted on the website in the Spring.

Please help us if you can.

Thank you

2012 Huttons Ambo Produce Show

Calendulas

On Saturday your editor attended the 58th Annual Huttons Ambo Produce Show. Despite the dire and erratic weather we've had this year the show was very good with an impressive display of vegetables, flowers, produce and handicrafts.

Our own potatoes have been ravaged by slugs so I was surprised to see a good selection of healthy looking spuds on show.

A good show of vegetables despite the weather

The Produce Section - bread, cakes, scones, jam and wine.

 

Those are my scones there on the lower right, terrible, aren't they?

At one end of the hall was the winner of the tallest sunflower competition, an immense plant reaching up to the ceiling of the village hall.

The largest sunflower in the village - can you do better?

This year I tried my hand at the produce section for the first time, brewing up some jam, marmalade and fudge, and I take some modest pride in getting a second prize for the marmalade.

Produce Show silver for the editor!

Prizes were awarded by Rector Taff Morgan (Rector of the Howardian Benefice, which incorporates the parish of Huttons Ambo) - here shown awarding a prize for the youngest competitor to Cammy Clark.

Youngest competitor in the show

A big thanks to everyone who organised and helped with the show, I know from personal experience how much hard work goes into putting on the show, so well done, it was excellent.

Will you find gold at the end of the Produce Show Rainbow? There's only one way to find out - enter the show next year!


All material © Philip Stone 2012

Jubilee in Black & White

As you probably know, your hapless editor is a bit of a camera nut, so here are some black and white pictures of the Jubilee Party shot with a suitably vintage film camera:

The party's over, time to call it a day.

You can see the colour pictures of the day here.

And prints are still available of  the group photo, you can see the prices here and order them from Herbies shop.


All material © Philip Stone 2012

The June Gap

Gardeners are familiar with the June Gap, that time of the year when the bright flowers and exuberant growth of spring dies down and the mainstream shrubs and perennials of summer have yet to make their mark. At this time the garden looks relatively quiet and green.

Greater Stitchwort

Something similar happens to the hedgerows as well, May is dominated by white: the tiny stars of the greater stitchwort cluster in the long grass, clumps of hawthorn flowers daub the hedgerows and clouds of hogweed and cow parsley hang over the the verges.

Hogweed & Cow Parsley

Hawthorn & Cow Parsley

Now, in mid-June, after a few days of rain followed by hot weather, the flowers have bloomed and blown and the hedgerows are green again.

Back to green again

But there are still gems to be found, wild roses are flowering in the hedges and the humble clover is making an appearance.

Briar Rose

Backlit Clover

We don't usually think of grasses as flowering, but the delicately coloured tufts at the end of grass stalks actually are flowers and they drop pollen into the air with every gust of wind. The pollen grains are very light because they may have to travel miles before they land on a grass of the same species. For the same reason grasses produce vast qantities of pollen and as a side effect make hay fever sufferers lives a misery.

Grasses - 1



Grasses - 2

Many of these grasses have fine, subtle colours of purple and russet which tint fields and meadows. A good place to see this is in the meadow at the side of Menethorpe Beck in Low Hutton, a fine if small example of a classic meadow, with purple grasses, sedges, buttercups and clover.

So 'Mind The Gap Please', there's more in there than meets the eye.


All material © Michelle Stone 2012

Jubilee Group Photograph

We’ve decided to offer two different versions of the Jubilee photograph for sale.



Group Photo - Version A



Group Photo - Version B

I’ve printed two examples of each version in A4 and 10 inch x 15 inch sizes and put them in Herbies shop, but other sizes are available:

Size (inches)	Price
5 x 7.5	30p
6 x 9	50p
A4	£3.00
10 x 15	£5.00

The example photos and the order list is in Herbies shop, please put required quantities and your contact details on the list below, by Sunday 15^th July. I will then order a batch.

All material © Philip Stone 2012

Huttons Ambo Diamond Jubilee Party

Group photo at the War Memorial

The day started with traditional games for the children - a sack race, obstacle course and an egg and spoon race. The weather was kind: sunny with occasional clouds.

At lunch time we loaded our plates from the buffet in the village hall and repaired to tables laid out in the lane in front of the hall. Rain briefly threatened but undaunted, waterproofs and umbrellas were produced and it soon gave up and moved on.

During lunch Andy Dorman & Malton Town Crier  (a former Huttons Ambo resident) announced that commemorative jubilee mugs would be given to the children.

Afterwards we decamped down to the war memorial where the Malton Town Crier read out a proclamation, Murray Naylor proposed a toast to the Queen and your humble editor took the group photograph.

We then returned to the Village Hall where a number of residents made a brave attempt to drink the bar dry, while the more energetic took part in a rounders match between High & Low Hutton. I’m told that Low Hutton won.

A great vote of thanks must go to the Jubilee Committee for their energy and hard work which made the day such a success and will provide happy memories for many years to come, especially for the younger members of the village.

The Jubilee Committee

Murray & Rosa Naylor, Judith Bray, Sue Hide, David Banks, Martine Green, Alison Hewitt,

Sarah Swindells, John Jenyns, Clare Jenyns, Edward Hide, Carol Haigh and Maggie Stone.

And thanks to Sarah Swindells, Ian Aconley, Sarah Mahon and Jenny Johnson for organising the games.

I don't understand this at all

Keen competition in the Sack Race

Intense concentration in the Egg & Spoon Race

Space Hoppers form part of the Obstacle Course

Buffet Lunch in the Village Hall

Not put off by a few spots of rain!

Andy Dorman announces Jubilee Mugs for the children

A happy streetful of party-goers - 1

A happy streetful of party-goers - 2

Cutting the Jubilee cake

Pictures by Murray Naylor:

If you have any photos of the event you would like me to feature here, please get in touch or send me an email.

These and more pictures can be seen as a slideshow here.

Or as an album here.

You will need the password to view the album, this is HuttonsAmboJubilee

PS: If you're not happy with your picture appearing on the website or album, please let me know and I'll take it down.

All material © Philip Stone 2012