Effingham Eye: Church Fete, Dambusters and Local Committees

Published on: 2 May, 2018
Updated on: 2 May, 2018

Chris Dick, in his regular column, reports on the Church Fete with RAF flypast, a WW2 Dambusters Talk, Trustees stepping down and the Residents Association AGM.

All about Fete

The evening before the fete gets underway (7.30 pm Friday, June 1) there will be a talk by Dr Robert Owen former Chairman of the Barnes Wallis Trust and the official historian of the No. 617 Squadron Association. His presentation will be on the World War 2 Dambusters Raid and take place at St Lawrence Church, Effingham. It’s free so do come early to ensure a seat! There will be time for questions and refreshments afterwards.

In the early hours of Monday, May 17, 1943, one of the most daring low-level night-time raids in the history of air warfare took place, when nineteen Lancaster crews from the newly formed 617 Squadron successfully attacked the great dams of Germany.

The story of the Dambusters

The Dambusters were members of the RAF’s 617 Squadron who were specially assembled in March 1943 to bomb three dams in Germany’s industrial heartland, the Ruhr Valley. The raid, on the night of May 16/17, was called Operation Chastise and involved 133 aircrew flying 19 specially adapted Lancaster bombers.

Upkeep bomb underneath a Lancaster bomber. Image: Ministry of Defence, Air Historical Branch.

The fete is intended to mark the 75th anniversary of that raid and Effingham residents will be familiar with Sir Barnes Wallis who lived in the village and is buried here. Sir Barnes was the Vickers Armstrong’s assistant chief designer and came up with the idea for a unique new weapon, popularly called ‘the bouncing bomb’, but known by its codename as “Upkeep”.

It was a 9,000-pound cylindrical mine that was designed to bounce across the surface of the water until it hit a dam. It would then sink and a hydrostatic fuse would detonate the mine at a depth of 30 feet.

The fete runs 11am to 3pm Saturday, June 2, 2018. Elizabeth Gaunt, one of Sir Barnes Wallis’s daughters, has kindly agreed to open the event.

Spread over three beautiful sites within the Conservation Area and linked by roads, closed to all traffic except emergency services, the fete offers a variety of stalls. There will be cakes, plants, books, tombola, clotted cream teas and a real ale beer tent.

There will also be a barbecue run by local chef Peter Friskey with meat provided by Bevans the butchers. There will be a bouncy castle, music and more. There is even a paper aeroplane competition in the church with a prize for the longest flight.

World War Two Dakota

As part of the fete’s theme of marking the 75th anniversary of the Dambusters raid, the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Dakota will, subject to weather, flypast at 12.45 pm.

The Dorking Air Cadets and officers will be in attendance and salute the flypast in honour of Sir Barnes Wallis who was also their patron for many years. Sir Barnes is actually buried in St Lawrence churchyard in a quiet corner near the Old Rectory.

An error in April’s Eye

The Effingham Eye should be viewed as an opinion piece although it always aims to be accurate. Unfortunately, there was an error in the previous edition that has subsequently been corrected.

The article had incorrectly stated that Effingham Village Playing Fields Association (EPFA) had made a donation of £1,000 to the Toddlers Playground Appeal.

The chairman of EPFA, Alan Brown had handed the cheque over but, after confirmation, it proved that the donation was on behalf of his building company A. J. Brown & Sons Ltd, not EPFA. In effect, it had been a personal donation and a generous one at that.

Other claims of inaccuracy were reviewed and advice sort from Kristina Kenworthy, Surrey chair of CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England). After careful consideration and consultation, it was considered that the April edition had been otherwise accurate and did not need to be further amended.

Effingham Village Recreation Trust (EVRT) manage the King George V Hall and playing fields (KGV)

Two EVRT trustees step down

At the recent Effingham Parish Council (EPC) meeting (April 24) Chairman Arnold Pindar announced the resignations of Cllr Liz Hogger and her husband Chris Hogger from their roles as trustees of the Effingham Village Recreation Trust (EVRT). Their resignations will take effect in June 2018.

Cllr Liz Hogger

Explaining her decision to stand down as a trustee Cllr Hogger spoke briefly about the amount of time that the Berkeley Homes plans are likely to take up. She talked about the EVRT achievements made during her time in the role such as the money saved in outsourcing the grounds maintenance and went on to caution the council, when considering their replacements, to ensure that prospective new trustees were free from any serious conflicts of interest.

Liz and Chris have worked tirelessly for EVRT during some difficult times involving an expensive court case against Effingham Playing Fields Association (EPFA) and the untimely departure of one of their main sources of income, the Howard of Effingham School.

Chris and Liz will be remembered for their sterling work coping with the Gypsy Traveller incursions last summer and the effort they put into clearing up afterwards.

Effingham Residents Association AGM held in St Lawrence church hall

Residents Association’s AGM

The Effingham Residents Association (EFFRA) AGM took place last night (April 30) in the St Lawrence church hall. Chairman Vivien White quickly completed the AGM formalities and moved on to the public meeting by giving a first-class presentation about the Berkeley Homes plans for 295 new homes and a new school.

She covered the reasons why the Secretary of State had approved the plans and went on to describe many of the concerns raised by residents. This was followed by a question and answer session with Philip Davies, the former chairman of Linden Homes with Cllr Liz Hogger on hand to assist the EFFRA committee with answers.

Cllr Hogger explained that Berkeley Homes representatives would be visiting the borough planners the next day to get things moving and then she would discuss with the planners and parish council about the possibility of forming a liaison group to work with the developers.

This was well received although residents from Water Lane were most concerned about the possibility of flooding or subsidence depending on what the developer did to ameliorate the drainage on Effingham Lodge Farm.

Cllr Hogger restated the parish council’s intention to seek the views of residents regarding the Section 106 funding that has been allocated to rebuilding the KGV hall. Philip Davies was slightly critical of the current plans and considered match funding should be sought.

Cllr Hogger reassured those present that the plan for the hall and sporting facilities had been rushed in order to meet a deadline and that it had been agreed that the current plans could be varied.

Is there any point in villages having parish councils?

Let’s end with a question. It is clear that, when it suits them, government ministers pay little attention to localism or to our parish or borough councils when it comes to major planning decisions. As such, have parish and borough councils lost their relevance in today’s society?

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