The North Pole of Little Abington

This rather sinister black pole has adorned the junction of the A1307 and the High Street at the Abingtons for some months now.

 No, its not a relic of some medieval witch-burning site, but supposedly an up to date electronic traffic indicator that Balfour Beatty put up and then slightly forgot about.  So we have been chasing, and now the County highways team have a price for completing the job but still need a date. I'll look forward to it blinking at me as I drive - at the required 40 mph - along the A1307. 

Hopefully the Abingtons' bid for an extension to the 40 mph zone along the main road will be successful too. It will make turning off and onto the road safer. 

The Abingtons - planning a bid for a 20 mph zone

Gt Abington parish council met this evening and discussed and agreed to support Little Abington if they bid for a 20 mph zone at the centre of the two villages near the school and the shop, just up the raod from these idyllic cottages. Lt Abington meet next week to finalise the bid. It will be important to have some recent data on speeds going through the village to back up the bid. I will pass on the police contact. 

There was also a discussion about the experieince of first responder teams in different areas. Where there is confidence in local NHS infrastructure i.e. GP surgeries and hospitals then 1st responders are not too busy, but where that confidence is lacking, then teams are called out much more because people call 999 more often.

Green hairstreaks, chalkhill blues and red admirals!

All types of butterfly that can be found along the Roman Road and Fleam Dyke to the north of the Abingtons! I went along to the AGM of the Friends of the RR and FD, which was in the convivial Six Bells at Fulbourn - nice pint of Southwold bitter. Must have been 70 people there. 

The Friends do a lot of work to map the wildlife in the area, and promote it and protect it - working with among others the County Council, Natural England etc.  One of the challenges is getting the balance right between the scrub and the chalk, in terms of environments. And of course the Roman Road is actually a roman road - and a good solid one too. I'm hoping to go out with the county team to see the conservation work they do first hand. 

At least it isn't Somerset

I managed to catch up with the County Highways team and their engineer manager who carry out the jetting of drains using high-powered water pressure etc so that build-ups of silt carried into the drains by the rain do not then block the drains, so the next flood of water has nowhere to go except lie on the roads or into people's houses and gardens. 

I had raised various locations that needed attention in emails over the last week or so and it was good to sit down and catch up on progress. I was grateful for the cup of tea too, though I think they have been out in the weather more than I have. Jetting has been carried out at Duxford today, and will be at Abington tomorrow and Whittlesford (Pond House corner) last week. I also asked the district council to get a supply of sandbags out to Bustler's Rise which they undertook to do this afternoon.

One thing that is very clear to me is that in the past, various drains on private land have not been cleared - in part because people probably didn't know much about it. Do you know where your village drainage ditch is? It didnt really matter if a small development didnt clear out its drains because the County kept on top of their drains and the amounts of rain meant they were not overwhelmed. But if we are to get weather like this going forward, everyone has to do their bit. The top pic shows a small dam across a field that the farmer has put in to slow down the water coming off the land. The next pic shows pathways streaming with water, the third pic is a makeshift diversion to stop water going into a drain that is already blocked, and the final pic is the ford at Babraham the other night when I was coming back from the parish council meeting. But it isnt Somerset, and we should be grateful for that.