Whaddon Speedwatch

Speedwatch training

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Whaddon Walks

Whaddon

COMMUNITY IN WHADDON

Updated Tuesday 30 January 2024

Community has a huge range of meanings. Here we want it to tell you about initiatives and organisations within the village that will help to keep you secure and also to give you things to do. Thus here we have Neighbourhood Watch and Speedwatch, the village email list (updated in December 2012) and village clubs, as well as a walks section. Several village bodies who offer regular or occasional social events have their own pages on this site. Village events are normally collected in the Calendar.

Whaddon Neighbourhood Watch

Update 23 February 2017

Whaddon has had an active Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) scheme since it was re-launched in 2003 after a series of shed and car break-ins. So successful did it become after the re-launching that Whaddon won the South Cambridgeshire Community Safety Competition at the end of that year.

There are five Coordinators at present who cover all of the village. We aim to have a close working relationship with the local Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) and also to attend the police panel meetings for the Cambourne sector every four months. We also attend the Cambridgeshire Neighbourhood Watch Executive Group Annual Conference in November. Although Whaddon has a low crime rate it is important to keep resident’s minds on personal and property security and to this end a Neighbourhood Watch village-wide e-mail system was introduced in 2012 to enable both rapid communication to villagers as well as a more routine channel of contact. Any villager interested in joining the NHW team and becoming a Coordinator would be very welcome and should ring the Cluster Coordinator, Malan Peyton in Dyers Green (01223 207358), for further information. They can be sure of a warm welcome!

Speedwatch, an officially sponsored volunteer-based activity which uses speed sensor equipment to monitor speeding vehicles also comes within the responsibilities of Whaddon Neighbourhood Watch. Information and statistics will be found on a separate tab.

A link to the police.uk web site will be found on the Services menu.

Speedwatch

Speedwatch is a scheme being run by Cambridgeshire police that permits local residents to monitor the speeds in their villages. Some details can be obtained from the Cambridgeshire Police speedwatch website.

The police have a small number of speedwatch equipment sets which can be used by suitably trained volunteers. These individuals, usually in groups of three, note down speeds of vehicles exceeding the speed limits and hand the information on to the police. No prosecutions will result from this, although the police will, send out polite notes to those breaking the speed limit — only a police officer (or a police speed camera) can actually cause a driver to be prosecuted. The idea is that of peer pressure — the very presence of visible persons noting speeds tends to slow traffic down, and lets drivers know that the particular area is being monitored.

Whaddon owns a quarter share of its speedwatch equipment in conjunction with Meldreth, Steeple Morden and Litlington. Our small team is active and takes part in at least two sessions per month. Should you feel like contributing a small amount of time to the wellbeing of the village, please see the Volunteering tab below.

  • COMMUNITY SPEEDWATCH in WHADDON

    We need some more volunteers!

    If you are home during weekdays and can spare a couple of hours a month either in the morning or in the afternoon, how about volunteering to join the Speedwatch team. We draw on a small cadre of people who want to help counter the issue of speeding in the village. You have probably seen members of the team, normally three people, standing by the side of the road monitoring vehicles and recording details of those that are exceeding the speed limit. It is not an onerous task and the company can make it quite enjoyable. Besides, there is some satisfaction in reminding drivers that Whaddon takes speeding seriously. So what’s involved?

    • If you have some spare time during the week, usually in the early to mid-morning and mid to late afternoon then you would be very welcome. Team members are contacted each month to suggest a possible schedule and find out availability.
    • Training is provided by the police at Cambourne and takes a couple of hours on one Saturday morning;
    • No more than 2-3 hours each month is required but having email is important.

    Nothing could be easier so come and join us.

  • Checks 2010-2011

    Speedwatch keeps records of all its outings as well as passing them on to the police. For a while these were kept by a member of the team on a computer database and so these are the ones given below.

    Date Session time Location Total
    vehicles
    Total
    recorded
    %
    speeding
    %
    letters
    Avg
    speed
    Count 43
    to 46
    Count 47
    to 50
    Count 51
    to 59
    Count
    60+
    05/03/2010 08:00-09:00 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 114 5 4 2 46.4 3 1 1 0
    17/03/2010 08:02-09:02 Church Street, by College Farm 126 13 10 3 45.2 9 3 1 0
    09/04/2010 08:35-08:35 Church Street, by College Farm 43 9 21 5 46.1 7 1 1 0
    20/04/2010 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 149 19 13 4 45 13 6 0 0
    16:35-17:35 Church Street, Church Corner 61 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    20/05/2010 08:00-09:00 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 128 12 9 1 45.3 11 0 0 1
    15/06/2010 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 136 15 11 3 45.5 11 2 2 0
    18/08/2010 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 94 18 19 6 46.3 12 5 1 0
    14/10/2010 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 127 15 12 2 45.3 12 2 1 0
    02/11/2010 08:00-09:00 Church Street, Church Corner 147 0 0
    05/11/2010 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 137 20 15 5 45.9 13 4 3 0
    08/03/2011 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 165 23 14 8 47.2 10 8 5 0
    10/03/2011 16:30-17:30 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 93 14 15 10 47.8 5 7 2 0
    22/03/2011 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 134 11 8 3 46.4 7 3 1 0
    05/05/2011 17:00-18:00 The Green, Meldreth Road 113 8 7 3 47.3 5 2 1 0
     
    At 43: speeding
    At 47: letter from police
  • Checks 2009

    Speedwatch keeps records of all its outings as well as passing them on to the police. For a while these were kept by a member of the team on a computer database and so these are the ones given below.

    Date Session time Location Total
    vehicles
    Total
    recorded
    %
    speeding
    %
    letters
    Avg
    speed
    Count 43
    to 46
    Count 47
    to 50
    Count 51
    to 59
    Count
    60+
    24/03/2009 10:30-11:15 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 35 3 9 3 46 2 1 0
    26/03/2009 08:30-09:30 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 123 25 20 10 47.6 13 5 6 1
    27/03/2009 08:30-09:10 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 86 10 12 3 45.8 7 2 1
    09:10-09:45 Church Street, below church facing west 28 0 0
    31/03/2009 15:30-16:30 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 71 22 31 20 48.4 8 9 4 1
    02/04/2009 08:00-09:00 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 131 12 9 3 46 8 3 1
    16:00-17:00 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 100 29 29 20 48.5 9 15 4 1
    09/04/2009 08:05-09:05 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 113 14 12 4 46.2 10 2 2 0
    15:50-16:30 Church Street, by Ridgeway Close 44 3 7 2 45 2 1 0 0
    16:40-17:15 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 37 13 35 22 47.6 5 6 1 1
    21/04/2009 08:10-09:10 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 126 17 13 5 46.6 11 4 2 0
    15:30-16:30 Church Street, by Ridgeway Close 84 2 2 0 43.5 2 0 0 0
    29/04/2009 08:00-09:00 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 107 11 10 7 48.5 4 4 3 0
    30/04/2009 08:05-09:05 Church Street, by College Farm 126 11 9 4 46.6 6 3 2 0
    16:40-17:40 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 77 18 23 13 48.2 8 5 5 0
    08/05/2009 08:00-09:00 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 125 10 8 2 46.1 7 3 0 0
    16:30-17:30 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 84 22 26 18 48.1 7 11 3 1
    11/05/2009 16:00-17:00 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 87 9 10 5 47.4 5 3 1 0
    22/05/2009 08:15-09:15 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 122 9 7 2 47.2 6 0 3 0
    16:45-17:45 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 78 20 26 13 47.1 10 8 2 0
    04/06/2009 08:05-09:05 Church Street, by College Farm 122 21 17 7 46.5 13 5 3 0
    16:35-17:35 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 88 10 11 3 47.6 7 1 1 1
    10/06/2009 08:00-09:00 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 126 28 22 9 48.3 17 3 7 1
    16:30-17:30 Church Street, by College Farm 87 12 14 7 47.5 6 4 2 0
    17/06/2009 17:00-18:00 Church Street, by College Farm 91 15 16 5 46.6 10 3 2 0
    18/06/2009 08:30-09:30 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 59 6 10 3 48.3 4 0 2 0
    16:00-17:00 Church Street, by College Farm 52 8 15 8 47.5 4 2 2 0
    24/06/2009 08:00-09:00 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 110 7 6 2 45.1 5 2 0 0
    17:40-18:20 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 53 15 28 19 48.1 5 6 4 0
    03/07/2009 08:00-09:00 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 57 8 14 5 47.3 5 1 1 1
    17:15-18:15 Church Street, by College Farm 61 14 23 11 48.1 7 4 3 0
    09/07/2009 07:30-8:00 Church Street, Church Corner 45 1 2 0 43 1 0 0 0
    08:05-08:35 Church Street, by College Farm 62 9 15 3 44.8 7 2 0 0
    17:15-18:15 The Green, Meldreth Road 91 10 11 3 45.8 7 2 1 0
    06/08/2009 17:05-18:05 The Green, Meldreth Road 92 17 18 9 46.6 9 7 1 0
    13/08/2009 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 106 24 23 12 47.5 11 9 4 0
    17:35-18:35 Meldreth Road, facing Meldreth 68 6 9 1 45.2 5 1 0 0
    21/08/2009 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 100 17 17 9 47.8 8 6 3 0
    17:10-18:10 The Green, Meldreth Road 79 17 22 6 45.1 12 5 0 0
    25/08/2009 08:30-09:30 The Green, Meldreth Road 53 7 13 6 46.1 4 2 1 0
    16:40-17:40 The Green, Meldreth Road 91 12 13 1 44 11 1 0 0
    09/09/2009 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 125 26 21 7 45.7 17 9 0 0
    16:40-17:40 The Green, Meldreth Road 100 11 11 6 46.6 5 5 1 0
    15/09/2009 08:20-09:20 Church Street, Church Corner 104 1 1 1 47 0 1 0 0
    24/09/2009 16:30-17:30 The Green, Meldreth Road 100 15 15 6 46.8 9 4 2 0
    15/10/2009 08:05-09:00 Meldreth Road, facing Whaddon 120 13 11 3 45.1 9 3 1 0
    16/10/2009 16:05-17:05 The Green, Meldreth Road 70 12 17 7 45.6 7 5 0 0
    27/10/2009 08:00-09:00 Church Street, by College Farm 104 20 19 9 46.8 11 6 3 0
    16:00-17:00 Church Street, by College Farm 54 8 15 7 46.5 4 3 1 0
    17/11/2009 08:05-09:05 Church Street, by College Farm 127 27 21 6 45.7 19 6 2 0
    24/11/2009 08:05-09:05 The Green, Meldreth Road 63 6 10 5 47.5 3 2 1 0
     
    At 43: speeding
    At 47: letter from police

Village email list

Whaddon has had its own email circulation list since 2012. The system, originally started by Mike Monks, is currently run by Nigel Strudwick, and he will send round any messages which are thought appropriate to ensure the village is kept informed. All villagers who have email are encouraged to sign up for it so that you can be kept as well-informed as possible.

You can sign up for the list by sending a message to Nigel on this address:

emaillist[at]whaddon.org

Nigel had to change the email address and server for this in December 2019 because of problems with Gmail.

× You may have noticed that recent messages from the Whaddon email list have come from a different address, and with a note from me at the top that I have been having problems with Gmail. Since I will be using the new address as default from now on, I owe you all an explanation.

The way that I have been sending email is to contact you all by putting your email addresses in the bcc: address (“blind carbon copy”); this means that none of you see any of the other addresses to which the email goes, for privacy. It appears that Gmail is taking a harder line against lots of addresses in bcc:, marking it as spam and stopping messages being sent. This is now becoming a major problem, as it means that emails are getting delayed. I am not moving to any other of the Google offerings, as they are more complex, and since the beginning of the Whaddon email, we have wanted to keep it nice and simple for you to sign up to, with an email to me (or, until a couple of years ago, the list founder, Mike Monks).

So I have decided to use a similar system that runs of the email system we get as part of the Whaddon web site. In future, emails from the Whaddon email list will come from

emaillist [at] whaddon.org

Nothing else will change. Your privacy is the same, and you are only on the list because you have in the past given me your explicit permission to be contacted for the purposes of village-wide emails.

I am going to hope that everyone is happy with this system, but remember, you only have to drop an email to that address above to be removed and I will do it immediately.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you have a very happy Christmas

Nigel Strudwick