Now, when people think of parishes, they tend to think 'Vicar of Dibley'. Ironically, the meetings that you see there are of the Parochial Church Council, but the concept is similar, church-based rather than quasi-political.
We were apparently the first through the door, and caught the organisers in the midst of an informal council meeting, but were welcomed with a cup of tea (donations welcome) and the offer of cake. And you know something, it was really friendly. I was able to catch up with a little Parish Council stuff, as we use the Church Hall for Parish Council meetings, and owe money for room rental - we haven't actually been invoiced, and our Parish Clerk is a stickler for that sort of thing. So, I suggested to Jenny, their Treasurer, that she bill us.
There was then a discussion about the burial path, and Ros's knowledge of rights of way legislation came into play. Ironically, the old burial path ran from the church hall in a straight line to the church, until the building of the A14 cut the path in two. Now, you have to cross the A14 via the road bridge out of the village to the south before heading along its southern edge and rejoining the original route.
The problem is that of horses. The path isn't a bridleway, and when horses use it, it gets badly cut up. Worse still, because it is relatively narrow, when riders encounter walkers, there is very little room for manoeuvre. Dogs make the situation even more complex, and finding ways of keeping horses off is proving to be a bit difficult.
And as we talked, more villagers arrived for tea, and maybe a jar of preserves, and before we knew it, there were more than a dozen people, some with children, chatting away, with our vicar wandering amongst them.
The hope is that they'll hold more such events on the second Saturday of each month, and I for one will be supporting them if I can. Ah, the joys of village life...
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