May 2017

Beating the Bounds, Gangdays prior to the Norman conquest, I don’t think is part of our local churches calendar, do correct me if I am wrong. Should this ancient ritual still be undertaken then Ascension day, May 25th this year, will be the day to gather with our clergyman and beat the boundary stones of the parish with sticks of birch and willow and pray for good fortune of the parish. Now we have our two boundary stones restored between Sutton and Bignor once again we can follow the parish boundaries in order to avoid disputes over ownership and maintenance. Apparently such disputes were regular occurrences in times gone by, on one such occasion in the eighteenth century two groups of young men from Sutton and Bignor became embroiled in a punch up while ‘Beating the Bounds’.

The parish council is beating its on bounds, by continuing to concentrate on maintenance and up keep of the parish assets. In our efforts to improve the

infrastructure of the parish we have gradually been looking at the state of

drainage, which I wrote about last month, but also the bus shelter, roads and bridges. The more observant of you will have noticed that the bus shelter had lost a few tiles, this has now been rectified and that the Sutton noticeboard has lost one of its doors. Thanks to the Dudman’s for salvaging the door before more damage occurred and special thanks to Tony Saward for repairing the door. Hopefully, by the time this Village News goes to press I will have got the door screwed back onto its frame. The door was broken because someone hadn’t turned the catch properly and the wind then caught it, so could all those that pin information please ensure the door is closed securely.

Another village asset that is in a much reduced state is the red brick footbridge on the way to Barlavington. This old, guessing nineteenth century, bridge has been gradually eroded by tree roots causing several layers of brickwork to be lost and a very uneven path is the consequence. The Parish Council is seeking

external funding to restore the bridge before it collapses and is replaced with a standard SDNP wooden one. More on this as we progress.

The Parish Council as you will have noticed reduced the precept as a percentage of your council tax this year. We are continuing to find savings and value for money. This year we shall be reviewing our liability insurance to see if savings can be gained. One area where we cut our costs was to stop all charitable

donations. It was the parish councillors view that we are not here to tax

residents and then give their monies to very worthy causes. If you disagree with us then we are happy to review our policy.

Next Meeting in the Village Hall on July 10th 7.30pm