Rippingale Village News

Greetings....
I was saddened to hear about the
recent passing of Pete Johnson
who I often met on my way to the
allotments. He would always be
ready for a friendly chat near to his
smallholding with growing advice
and tales of how the village used to
be. Pete was a regular at the
allotment Open Days and even last
year he was there, balancing his
burger and drink on his scooter and
taking a bag of homemade scones
back for his tea! A true gent with I’ll
miss seeing him around the village.
Hopefully, you’re all looking forward
to the Feast on 12th July - a detailed
booklet has come through our door
and there is a further welcoming
notice on the back page of the
Newsletter.

Editor
RIPPINGALE NEWS

rippingalenewsletter@outlook.com July 2025

St Andrews Church News.....

Website: www.ringstonegroupchurches.org
Rector: Awaiting appointment
Churchwarden: Vacancy

For Weddings, Funerals, Baptisms, please contact:
Group Administrator ~ Sue O’Riordan: ringstoneoffice@gmail.com
ANNUAL CHURCH PAROCHIAL MEETING
The annual meeting of the PCC* took place in the church on
Thursday 29th May. Jonathan Newell was in the Chair.
The appointments were as follows: Vice-chair, Marc Maitland;
Secretary, Marc Maitland;
Treasurer, Phil Ward. There are six other committee members.
Jonathan Newell has reluctantly stepped down as Churchwarden
due to ongoing health issues. This means the Church is without a
Churchwarden. If anyone would like to take up this position please
contact Jonathan on 07771825422 for more information.
* The Parochial Church Council is the committee responsible for all
church matters.
COMMUNITY COFFEE MORNING
The morning brought heavy rain, not a positive omen for a good
attendance and definitely not one for sitting outside. However the
weather did not deter anyone and there was a great turnout with
over forty people. Thank you all for coming, it was good to see you
all. Phil did a sterling job as MC and thank you to Anne for standing
in and helping me. Julia said a word about Pete Johnson, who we
last saw at the Coffee Morning in May and a minutes silence was held
to remember him.
The next Community Coffee Morning will be from 10.15 onwards on
TUESDAY 1st JULY when there will be the usual vegetables and
cakes on sale. (Hopefully we do not run out this time!)
FUTURE EVENTS
The Church will be having their usual cake stall and chocolate
tombola at the Feast on SATURDAY 12th JULY.
Donations for either of of these would be much appreciated. Items
of chocolate can be left with Chris Bladon, 10 Wendover Close, or at
7 Pinfold Close. Homemade cake/savoury items can be left at 7
Pinfold Close on Friday 11th July or at the Jubilee Field before 10.30
on the morning of the Feast.

Jonathan Newell

Useful Contacts
Parish Clerk - Laura Davies
rippingalepc@gmail.com 07780496440
Chairman - Barry Ross
chairmanrpc4@gmail.com
07740151601

Vice Chair, Emergency team liaison, Flood
response team - Tony Creek
tonycreekrpc@gmail.com 07886622349

Rippingale.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk 2
Parish Council News......
Dog Bins on JPF – Many thanks to FOUR volunteers
from the village who have stepped up to organise the
emptying of the Playing Field dog bins. This is a great
example of how, if we all do even a small bit to help in
the village, the task becomes easier for everyone.
Plea to dog walkers – please make sure that you put
dog waste bags into the dog bins and not the general
waste bins. Presently, these general waste bins are not
emptied by SKDC, although the Parish Council is
pursuing them to do so in future. The task of emptying
the red dog bin bags into the large purple bin is
difficult enough for our volunteers, without them
having to pick out individual doggy bags from the
larger general waste bins. Please consider adding your
name to the (short) list of volunteers presently
emptying the dog bins and remember that, “more
hands make light work”.
Playing Field
1. We are now going ahead and placing orders for
the repair of the Tennis Court, including repairs to the
posts and the purchase of a new net. Can users of this
valuable facility please adhere to some simple rules of
use:
(a) Leave the court as you would wish to find it – i.e.
clean & tidy
(b) Do not leave the net under any tension at all – this
help relieve the stress on the posts.
(c) Properly and securely lock the entrance gate when
you leave the court, remembering to randomly turning
the padlock numbers to scramble the access code.
(d) Do not share the access code with anyone. The
Parish Council is trying to monitor the use of this
facility so that people who mis-use it can be identified.
(e) Report any mis-use of the court to the Parish
Council with hard evidence of who/what/when so that
those causing the damage can be contacted.
(f) Can users of this community asset please consider
setting up a “Sports Group” that can manage the
access to and use of the court. Contact anyone on the
Parish Council with ideas and suggestions please.
2. The installation of a Basket Ball post etc in the
tennis court for the youngsters of the village remains
an aim for the Parish Council. Once the tennis court is
back in use and the instances of vandal damage
negated, we can consider installing this much
requested additional sports facility.
3. The work to install the goal posts on the field is
imminent. We hope that they will be in place within the
next few weeks and available for all to use.
We still need volunteers to help identify, list and
remove the contents of the old unit to a temporary
location elsewhere in the village. Please contact any
Councillor or the Parish Clerk if you can find the time
to help with this.

Hedges – It is that time of year when hedges are in
need of trimming. Owners of large, non-domestic
hedges are restricted as to when they can trim hedges,
but private, residential hedge owners are not. Please
remember that you will need to check that your hedge
does not house nesting birds prior to trimming them.
Also remember that it is the hedge owner’s
responsibility to trim BOTH sides of their hedge(s),
particularly if they boarder a public pathway or area.
Parish Councillors – We have had some interest from
residents who are looking to help the Parish Council
deal with the many and varied tasks put before it – BUT
- we need more Councillors! Please contact any
Councillor or the Parish Clerk should you feel that you
have something to offer in the upkeep and
improvement of your village. Remember - the more
Councillors we have, the less work each has to do!
Problems/Issues in the Village – there have been
issues raised by residents regarding varied problems
in the village that the Parish Council may be able to
help get resolved. Insufficient parking and standing
water in the Dovecote are two such examples. If the
Parish Council is to establish, with the help of affected
residents, a plan of action to take matters further, it can
only do so with physical evidence of those problems.
Please try to help if you come across such issues.
The Bull Inn – Most people in the Village will be aware
that our pub had to close on Sunday 8th June 2025.
Hopefully, by the time this Newsletter is published, The
Bull Inn will have re-opened under new management.
The Parish Council wish the new team all the very best
in their endeavours and hope for a successful future as
this will also benefit the Rippingale community as a
whole.
Please be aware that The Bull offers bed & breakfast
facilities, bookable direct with the new team at great
value.
Additionally, it has four electric “hook-ups” for
caravans and motorhomes together with hardstanding
areas. There is also a large beer garden with a play
area for the children.
The Post office will remain available at the usual
days & times.
Many people were upset when the pub closed, so
please remember that the new team will need the
support of the whole village if it is to succeed. It will
provide a social hub for drinkers and non-drinkers
alike, serving non-alcoholic drinks, tea, coffee etc., plus
an event facility (birthday parties, weddings etc), so
please do your best to pop-in. Once a week or even
once a month can only help support the place.
“Use it or Lose it”!

Barry Ross (RPC Chairman)

Rippingale.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk 3
Rippingale and District Women’s
Institute.....
This month our numbers were a little depleted.
This was due to several members attending the
funeral of the husband of one of our former
presidents but those who did attend thoroughly
enjoyed themselves. We welcomed back Pat Gray
who showed us how to make a posy using our
garden flowers. We shared flowers and helped
each other with the tricky bits and made some
very pretty posies which, although none of us
have immediate plans to actually use, look lovely
displayed in a small vase. We now have the skills
to make a personal posy for our granddaughters -
should they be asked to be a bridesmaid!
Next month we shall be visiting Warner's Printing
of Bourne which should be very interesting. if you
would like to join us or would like more
information about our WI please contact Janet on
0 7 5 5 2 6 9 9 8 4 8 o r v i s i t o u r w e b s i t e
at radwi@btinternet.com where we will be
pleased to help.

Janet Morris

Rippingale Nature Notes.....

A very dry and mostly sunny spring resulted in far
more sightings of butterflies than the cold, wet
spring of 2024. Brimstones were more common
than I have seen for some years and there were
also good numbers of Peacocks. Orange Tips,
Green-veined Whites and Holly Blues were also in
evidence, but Speckled Wood and Small
Tortoiseshells were few in number.
A small number of frogs returned to our garden
pond to spawn and lots of tadpoles were
produced. However, numbers are now much
diminished due to regular visits by a hungry grass
snake. Other villagers also reported seeing grass
snakes in their gardens. Azure and Common Blue

Damselflies are currently visiting the pond along
with the impressive Large Red Damselfly.
All the migrant birds were in by the middle of
May but aerial insect feeders such as Swallows,
House Martins and Swifts were fewer in numbers
again. In contrast warblers held their own, with
Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats and Blackcaps common
in and around the village. I don’t know of any
Spotted Flycatchers in Rippingale but at least one
pair are nesting in Dunsby.
Only a couple of miles from our village,Turtle
Doves are in residence. These birds are incredibly
rare in Lincolnshire and I know of one birder who
travelled all the way from Alford to see them.
Brown Hares were easy to spot in the fields
before the crops grew too tall and in one field in
our parish I counted thirteen. Rabbits having
been hit by disease again seem to be increasing a
little.
You can read more Nature Notes every four
weeks in my column in The Stamford Mercury or
view my quarterly nature diary on line:
www.countryeye.org.uk.

Ian Misselbrook
New - Yoga at the Village Hall.....
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Rippingale Village Hall, PE10 0TA
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07716000304
anna.fornal@hotmail.co.uk

Rippingale.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk 4
The 200 Club draw results for the month of
June 2025.......

£30 ticket number 126 Mr J Petch
£20 ticket number 52 Mr & Mrs I Burr
£15 ticket number 17 Mr J Tyler
£15 ticket number 49 Mr K Cotton
£15 ticket number 74 Mr E Jessop

Julia Lister