Harvest Festival
St Giles’s Church Bielby
Sun 4th October 6.00pm
All are welcome to join us to celebrate our Harvest Festival Service
Donations for the local food bank will be gratefully received at the Church which will be open 10.00am to 5:00pm Wed 30th September to Sun 4th October. Please make sure that items are in date and are non-perishable as otherwise the donations can’t be used.
Thank you in advance.
The Churchwardens.
Just a reminder that this Saturday, our village church will be open 10.00 - 5.00 as part of the Heritage Open Days festival.
Everyone's welcome to drop in. There'll be light refreshments and soft live background music while you're free to look around, sit and chat, read the papers provided, bring or buy a book, sew, knit or do a crossword. It's up to you. There are also activity cards for children.
We'll have for sale plants, books and CDs and copies of the map of Bielby in 1613. Remarkably, it may show your property!
If you'd like to donate any books, CDs or plants, the church will be open 10.00 - 6.00 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for dropping off.
If you donate any plants, please can you label them? We shall see to pricing.
All the money we hope to raise will go toward the upkeep of our village church.
We look forward to seeing villagers plus visitors from far and wide.
All donations will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much in advance
Bielby DCC (District Church Council)
PS See our national advert:
Google Heritage Open Days
Click on What's On
Enter Bielby
Click where you see Bielby in blue.
Minutes of Bielby Parish Meeting
Monday 11th May 2026
held at Coffee and Coe
By kind permission of Richard and Christine Coe
Agenda
Apologies for absence.
Received from Steve Ridsdale, Debbie and Tony Britton, Vince Quigley. Pete and Val Nolton. (23 attendees)
Minutes of the last meeting held on 10th Nov 2025.
Were read and approved by the meeting.
Matters arising from the minutes.
3.7 Millenium Tree. Margaret Wilkinson had agreed to a location and a new sapling had been planted by Paul Oldroyd.
3.8 Trees to South end. It was reported that only the cherry trees had survived. Cllr Hammond said ERYC shouyld remove them as part of their annual inspection. (Cllr Hammond to action)
3.12 Signs. Sign at Routh lodge still not renewed, (Cllr West to action)
3.12 Surface water road drainage in village. GT had created a map of all the road gullies and direction of flow based on discussions with Richard Coe. CE will mark up the map at the next heavy rainfall (GT and CE to action). EM informed of a portal to report drainage issues GT found only an ERYC hotline (01482) 393939.
Planning applications and outcomes since the last meeting.
Town End Farm Main Street Bielby East Riding Of Yorkshire YO42 4JW
Certificate of lawfulness for existing occupation of a dwelling without
complying with an agricultural occupancy condition (Condition 1 of planning
permission Q1450(H)) - Approved
Hollycroft Farm Main Street Bielby East Riding Of Yorkshire YO42 4JW
Change of use from disused paddock for siting of 4 camping pods and
associated landscaping and access (Retrospective and revised scheme of
23/01271/PLF) - Approved
Land North of Woodclose Farm - Self build Erection of self-build dwelling with associated outbuildings, soft and hard landscaping including driveway with new access, and associated works 25/02908/PLF went to committee 10th Feb - Refused
Jane Geary (applicant) informed the meeting that the application was refused but she expects to appeal the decision in the next few weeks
Land North Of Ryedale Farm Seaton Common Lane Melbourne East Riding Of Yorkshire YO42 4ST
Construction and operation of a Battery Energy Storage Facility (BESS) and 20.0m high telecommunications mast with associated infrastructure, fencing, access tracks, cable corridors and landscaping 25/02403/PLF - Approved
Solar Farm Applications.
Mylen Leah (LH) and humberhead (HH) Solar Farm,
Consultancy for LH runs from Thursday 16 April to Thursday 28 May 2026.
We also received early notification of a larger farm called the Humberhead solar farm to the North East of the Mylen Leah proposal.
Full consultation for HH Autumn this year.
Cllrs West and Hammond said that as the current Mylen Leah project going through consultation is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) it will be decided by the secretary of State following a consultation process, which is currently towards the end of the request for comments from the public.
GT reported that having attended an online webinar that the application for ML has been amended following earlier comments and discussions with interested parties including stakeholders, landowners, conservation groups and other bodies. For instance, things such as reducing the height of the panels, proximity to dwellings and busier roads, location of conservation set aside areas. There will also be a significant fund for community projects, primarily aimed at energy efficiency and conservation. However other schemes are being considered for funding. There will be a fund of £200k per annum for the life of the project available to Parishes directly within the vicinity of which Bielby is one. The design life of the project is understood to be 50 years.
Cllr Hammond also informed the meeting that another NCIS project titled the Humberhead Project, thought to be of a similar overall size and located a little to the East of Mylen Leah project is in very early stages of planning and no specific details are as yet available. Cllr Hammond recommended that the meeting request a voting seat on the committee for the project. CE said he would request such a seat.
Village Website and compliance
GT informed the meeting that new New Government requirements for Councils to be WCAG2.2 AA compliant (Accesible standards for websites and communications)
also
Assertion 10-ready which is about a secure framework for data storage which involves a secure domain or data storage that is GDPR compliant and is part of the new AGAR return for every council however small it may be.
2025 edition of the Practitioners’ Guide (Assertion 10: Digital and Data Compliance) states:
All smaller authorities, by AGAR 2025/2026, must have:
A council-owned domain based official email address
A website that continues to meet accessibility regulations
An IT policy
And a reinforcement of compliance with GDPR and DPA responsibilities.
Possible providers;
My-Parish Council under £200/yr inc a .gov domain or .org and a website template that will provide a focal point for all parishioners and offers communication via a facebook page (not a group, but that's easy to set up on FB)
Aubergine offers similar but is £499/yr
HugoFox £198 inc 3 email address’ but its more technical and needs training. https://hugofox.com/home/parishcouncils.html
Council Hive £997 plus VAT
It was agreed to opt for the My-parish-Council option as it appeared the easiest to set up at a competitive price.
Road closure Allerthorpe-Melbourne
We received notification of a road closure around July August this year on the road between Allerthorpe and Melbourne south of the junction with Thornton road (Sand Lane). This is to facilitate the repairs to a culvert under the road that is now in a dangerous condition. It will be closed for a period of approximately 10 weeks. There will be a temporary bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. There will be an HGV diversion and signage to discourage use of Marketbridge Lane. Cllr Hammond asked parishioners to let him know if there is any undue use of Marketbridge lane by HGV’s.
Village Show
Set for Saturday 8th August - Thanks to Dale for Hosting, there is to be a pet corner too this year. Reminder for best Planter in Village. We have a bucket of spuds competition to raise funds for the show.
Marquee Cover Replacement.
Ian has bought a new cover but the cost now was around £1040, it was requested that we maintain our pledge of 50% contribution despite the big increase in the price.
Church extension and community hall funding
John Peel described a possible extension to the West of the church within the grounds which the Architect (see item AGM Minutes 11-05-2025, church report) proposed as possible on the grounds that the original church would have been in the same area (approx 25 feet westwards). The budget he gave for that would be circa £150k.
It was further discussed that with the potential funding from the Solar Farm community funds that may be enough to fund a community/village hall or playground elsewhere. CE volunteered to arrange a group of volunteers to investigate further the potential schemes.
Bielby Planter competition
Requests for people who would like to enter the Planter competition, to be Judged by Chris and Jan Emptage are to be notified on the back of the planter leaflet, to be distributed with the show programs and delivered to Alex Quigley or just let Alex know if you would like to enter so Chris and Jan know who to include in their judging round prior to the show.
Speed limit in village.
Paul Ward said the speed detector sign is now back with Goodmanham and will be returned to us in July to the South end.
Chris Emptage said he will supervise a speedwatch group outing in the next few weeks.
Canal Bank
Margaret Wilkinson had asked that the canal bank at the east side of the turning basin be restored to prevent erosion and potential collapse of the track. The site is a Special site of scientific interest (SSSI) and any unauthorised disturbance is an offence. CE to investigate and ask those responsible to reinstate the bank.
The meeting adjourned at 9.05pm.
Graham Tew
Secretary to Bielby Parish Meeting
Bielby Carol Service Sunday 21st December
Our village carol service will be at 6.00 pm Sunday 21st December in St Giles's church.
There will be mulled wine and mince pies afterwards to help us celebrate.
As usual, a collection will be taken for Martin House Children's Hospice, Boston Spa.
Please let warden John Peel (john_peel@btopenworld.com) know if you'd like to read one of the lessons. He'll get it to you before the day so you can prepare it.
Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy the festive occasion.
Monday 1st September - St Giles's Day and a 300th Bielby Birthday!
Monday 1st September is St Giles's Day, the festival of Bielby's patron saint. At 7.00 pm we shall have a festival communion service, followed by light refreshments.
It is also a really special occasion because Bielby's chalice was bought in 1725 (George I was king, incidentally) and it is still used here today. In effect, this occasion marks its 300th birthday. That is quite something.
Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy the occasion.
Easter at St Giles's, Bielby
18th April Good Friday
10.00 am - 6.00 pm - as usual, the church will be open for anyone to visit for private prayer or quiet contemplation.
20th April EASTER DAY
- the most important day in the Christian calendar
9.15 am - Holy Communion
Other services in our neighbouring group of churches are listed on the church noticeboard
Everyone is welcome
St Giles's, Bielby, Harvest Festival will be at 6.00 pm this coming Sunday, 6th October.
Everyone is welcome to come along to the celebration.
As usual, villagers can help The People's Pantry, our local food bank, by leaving donations of tinned and packeted food (please check BBE details) on the table near the church door (open 10 - 6 this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday).
We shall decorate the church with your donations and then pass them to our food bank. The People's Pantry is increasingly in demand and always grateful for Bielby's contributions.
We look forward to seeing everyone who can join us.
Bielby St Giles's Carol Service
Our Carol Service will be at 6.30 pm on Wednesday 20th December
As usual, if anyone would like to read a lesson, please let John Peel know at john_peel@btopenworld.com so that he can get your reading to you before the service, so you can practise.
Other Christmas services are:
Christmas Day 10.30 am Christmas Communion
Monday 1st January, The Naming of Jesus, 11.30am Holy Communion
Everyone is welcome to come along
On Wednesday 20th December at 6.30 pm it is the village Carol Service in St Giles's.
Would any parents be interested in putting on a Nativity Play with their children to tell the Christmas story, lasting around 10 minutes. Stephen, the vicar, is happy to include one in the service.
Depending on the age of the children, parents could help their children into place if that would help.
It would be great to have a mix of ages, may be some of the older children in the village might like to narrate the story.
We might need the following parts...
Mary
Joseph
Angel (1 or more)
Innkeeper (1 or more)
2 or more shepherds
3 (max!) kings
If you and your children are interested please let Sara know asap, thanks.
Remembrance Sunday
Bielby's Service of Remembrance is on Sunday 12th November, beginning at 10.50 am in church. The bells will ring at 10.45, followed by a lament on the bagpipes at the door. Rector Stephen will begin the service at 10.50 and, weather permitting, we shall go to the churchyard war memorial for the 11 o'clock silence.
After the blessing, those who wish to can attend the wreath-laying at the RAF canalside memorial straight afterwards.
Please feel free to come to church in your wellies. If you need it, there is an ancient boot scraper outside the door.
Everyone is welcome to attend either or both ceremonies.
Harvest Festival Sunday 1st October
Bielby's Harvest Festival service will take place in St Giles's at 6.30 pm on Sunday 1st October.
There will be light refreshments afterwards.
We shall again decorate the church with tins and packets of food which will be passed on to The People's Pantry, our local food bank. If you would like to donate to the food bank, please leave your offerings on the table at the back of the church. It will be open 10.00 am to 6.00 pm on Friday and Saturday 29th/30th September.
We had an excellent response last year, thank you, and it would be good to repeat it for The People's Pantry which will certainly be grateful for the help once again.
Everyone is welcome to the service.
Bielby Church: Services and Duck Race
In addition to our usual Holy Communion services at 9.15 am on the first and third Sundays of the month, here are the forthcoming 'specials':
Friday 1st September 7.30 pm - St Giles's Day Festival Communion, followed by light refreshments
Sunday 1st October 6.30 pm - Harvest Festival, followed by light refreshments. Any donations of food items (in tins or packets) to decorate the church will be gratefully received and given to the The People's Pantry, our local food bank. It is currently very much in demand.
Sunday 12th November 10.50 am - Remembrance Day Service at the churchyard war memorial, followed by wreath-laying at the canalside RAF memorial
Wednesday 20th December (time to be arranged) - Bielby Carol Service
Everyone is welcome to any service.
The Duck Race
The Race was always a brilliant event for the village community and a very helpful fund-raiser to maintain our village church. It was a great family occasion on the last Sunday in October, at the end of half term, when everyone had just had an extra hour in bed!
Well, we still have the plastic ducks, the beck and the bridge, but the church members who staged the Race are now in their 60s and 70s and rather past clambering up and down the beck.
If any younger, nimbler, villagers would be ready to stage the Duck Race, the church 'old hands' would be very thankful and ready to explain and advise how to go about it.
If anyone is interested in getting the ducks afloat again, and in so doing supporting our village church, please have a word with anyone you know on the Church Council, or contact churchwarden john_peel@btopenworld.com
Thank you for reading this rather long notice!
Here are the winners of 2022/2023 100 Club
A big thank you to everyone for supporting the 100 club.
The following is a list of the winners:
Pocklington Circuit Choir Concert, Bielby, Saturday 11th March
Now the ball is rolling, just so no-one misses out, a reminder that Bielby church will host Pocklington Circuit Choir in concert on Saturday 11th March. The songs to give us a lift from winter into spring will begin at 7.30 pm.
Tickets are £6.00 in advance and include refreshments.
You can book in advance from john_peel@btopenworld.com
