Website Report     Winter 2009                                                          Tail Corn Reports

 

There is half an inch of ice on the garden pond frustrating the local cat and giving the remaining goldfish a short life-extension. A pheasant is strutting around the garden gleaning the overspill from the finch feeder. I can just make out the shape of the church tower through the gloom. Chapel Road is white-over.

 

News. It wasn’t the scaffolders’ fault that the scaffolding stayed up on St Mary’s over Christmas. The architects decided on a couple of adjustments before they would sign the work off. Maurice is dealing with them. Other news. John Coppard, our PCSO, brought his new sidekick along to the Coffee Morning. She is Carly Freed from Great Gransden. I snapped them both for the Police page. Look out for Carly. (She likes a cup of tea.)

 

It’s hard to imagine that a thaw is due on Sunday. Even harder to think that by the time this Tail Corn drops through your letter box, there will have been blue skies, maybe gales, and possibly more snow. Longer days there surely will be and the green shoots of daffodils will be pushing through the ground.

 

The weather distracts me from my task which is to present my termly report on the village website.

 

Over 45,000 visitors since 2005

Over 400 visitors over the Christmas period

Over 1000 visitors over the last 30 days looking at 5000 pages plus pictures

The website now comprises 18,170 files (counting every picture and every thumbnail).

 

Figuring strongly in the Popular Pages section of the counter are Sandra McInnes’s work with the tardigrade, pictures of David Ellis’s wood, work on St Mary’s tower, local wild-life pictures, the Youth Brass Band concert, and Simba’s “round-robin” to her fans.

 

While the weather is keeping me in, I am remodelling a few of my early pages. It’s warm indoors. The kettle is on. It’s quiet. Lolling back with the keyboard on my lap is very comfortable. (Unfortunately it doesn’t get the decorating done.)

 

New Year plans include publishing Guy’s Arctic pictures, snapping St Mary’s without scaffolding, welcoming Spring, awaiting a call from Andrew Strauss, stirring from this easy chair, burning less oil, and speeding up my Broadband. (Of course, the thaw on Sunday may change everything.)

 

The Parish Plan questionnaire at first looks like a daunting job for the whole family. But it deserves your time. Its findings will indicate the way the people of the Eversdens wish to see the village develop. It’s sure to give me some pointers for the website. There’s a section on Tail Corn as well. Watch this space.

David Farnell     9th January 2009