Issue 466 September 2019
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www.biddestone.org.uk BIDDESTONE & SLAUGHTERFORD NEWS Full colour issue online Issue 466 OPEN GARDENS POETRY FARMING NEWS HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW BOOK CLUB WEDDING CLUBS & MUCH MORE September 2019 Open Gardens 2019 by Di Webb This was the most successful Open Gardens that we have or- car park. Well done to the car park attendants, who coped very ganised, we were lucky with the weather – the usual dress code well, especially when running out of spaces. is a pair of waders, but this year it was just right. Teas were provided in the Oak House by Charlotte and her Thirteen gardens were opened to the public, and visitors com- band of very competent helpers who were busy on Saturday, mented on the high standard and said how interesting it was to but rushed off their feet on Sunday. Simon ran the Pimms Tent see so many different styles of gardening. All had one thing in to the delight of many. A total of £1,725 from these went to the common, a passion for gardening, and producing a garden full Friends of St Nicholas. Hennie raised £700 for Help Tibet from of flowers and colour in August is no mean feat. teas at the other end of the village. The church was absolutely stunning, decorated with flowers After expenses we made a donation of £1,000 each to Dorothy from all the different clubs in the village, finishing touches by House, Julia’s House Hospice and Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Rosemary, Ronnie and Barbara. Romantic music provided by that old romantic, Stewart. Thank you to all you gardeners for making the weekend such a tremendous success. Thought for the day - only two years to go Saturday was very busy with visitors from all over the west, we until 2021! had been very fortunate in that Waitrose had generously includ- ed an advertisement in their weekend newspaper. On Sunday Di the crowds just kept coming, and we had to open the overflow 2 Editorial September EDITORIAL COMMITTEE [email protected] Welcome to the September edition of the Broadsheet. We hope you enjoyed the bumper 24-page colour issue covering the Fete and Biddstock, a big thank you to EDITOR both events for your donations which helped towards the extra cost of the colour Linda Lobl-Smith, Home Farm 714475 printing. TREASURER The Open Gardens in July was a huge success this time, with the weather being Annalisa Duff much kinder than usual, all the gardens great and small looked wonderful and the teas, ice cream and Pimms did a roaring trade as everyone relaxed in the sunshine. WEBSITE Well done to everyone who helped with this event. Alison Fovargue The next date for your diary will be the wonderful Slaughterford Country Fair and Julie Walton Pet Show, happening at St Nicholas Church, Slaughterford on 7th September. Let us June Pearce hope that the lucky streak with the weather continues for this one! DESIGN The annual Safari Supper in aid of St Nicholas Church will take place on 14th Chris Draper, Richard Eccleston, September starting at The Oak House and continuing at various locations throughout Liz Turner the village before returning for the auction. There are still tickets available for this really enjoyable evening. GET INVOLVED Yet another date to add for October, the Broadsheet Quiz returns this time on a Friday night, for those of you who could not make it to the May Day event. Bring Biddestone Broadsheet and the village your friends and family, and join the fun on 25th October in the Village Hall. website seek to reflect the life and interests of the villages of Biddestone and We have received news of a new village venture, a pop-up shop at the Village Hall on Slaughterford. Written contributions are Friday every fortnight. Using local produce from The Best of Wessex. customers can invited from readers on any subject that taste before they buy at The Biddestone Pop-Up-Farm-Shop. See page 9 for details. will be of interest. Photos, drawings and art work would also be welcome. Email accounts are often set up to compress images so they can be sent more quickly, but we need photos to be Broadsheet Quiz October 25 high resolution. So, when sending photos by email, please attach a file, preferably Join your quizmaster, Ian Smith for a fun-filled evening of brain teasing questions at a .jpg, and send it ‘Actual size’ or ‘Large ‘if the Village Hall, Friday 25th October at 7.30pm. Teams of four at £5 per head. Tel possible. 01249 714475 to reserve a table. Any opinions expressed or implied within this publication are not necessarily Bring your own picnic or feast to enjoy in the interval; drinks are available from the those of the Editor or Committee and bar. no responsibility can be accepted for any errors of fact printed on these pages. All funds will go to the Broadsheet. We will, of course, endeavour to be as accurate as possible. ● Last copy date is the third Friday in the month, copy should be sent to the Editor at the email address above. VILLAGE WEBSITE Reader’s Letter www.biddestonevillage.org.uk I moved to Biddestone over 20 years ago, and although A full colour version of the Broadsheet I currently rent out my cottage, I like to keep an eye on is available on the website. If you do not things. I particular enjoy Farming Notes – Ian keeps me wish to have your contact details published amused and informed. online then please make the editor aware of your preference. Any other notices or Just like to say what an excellent job you are doing with the contributions to be posted specifically on Broadsheet in terms of its content, style and presentation, the website should be sent to the email the current July / August edition is a particular highlight. address at the top of the page. Best Regards, Adrian Rowden ● To post an item on the Biddestone Village Website or Facebook page please contact the Editor Linda Lobl-Smith Cover photo: Biddestone Open Gardens photo: Cover 3 Recipes by Julie Walton Pear, Blackberry and Almond Cake 20g dark chocolate A good way to use up some excess 1 handful of flaked almonds late-summer fruit 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin, Ingredients greased and lined with baking parchment 225g self-raising flour 225g margarine 1. Preheat the oven to 180 125g sugar degrees C 3 eggs 2. Place the margarine and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix until 3 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into smooth, using an electric whisk or wood- mixture with a metal spoon 1cm cubes. en spoon 5. Bake for 40-45 mins until the cake is 2 handfuls of washed and dried black- 3. Add the flour, eggs and almond es- firm to the touch and a golden brown berries sence and mix until combined 6. Allow the cake to cool on a metal rack I tbsp plain flour 4. Sprinkle the plain flour over the pears and blackberries, Gently stir until the 7. Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the 1 tsp almond essence fruit is coated and fold into the cake cool cake, sprinkle with flaked almonds Safari Supper and Auction We will be holding a Safari Supper and an Auction of Gifts, Time and Promises on Saturday 14th September. All funds raised will go to the Friends of St Nicholas. So far we received a received a good number of pledges for the auction, these include: Welsh Adventure Talk from a motoring Journalist Tickets to Bath Rugby Landscape architecture consultancy Golf at Castle Combe Bristol City tickets and hospitality Christmas garlands Painting of the Royal Crescent Gents haircut Pedestal flower arrangement Supper for 4 Hand turned wooden bowl Christmas hamper Box of 6 specialty marmalades Spinning tuition for 2 Box of chutneys and pickles Tickets to MK Dons Rose pruning Book on air combat paintings Afternoon tea at The manor House Childs bicycle Lift to Heathrow or Gatwick Cakes Patchwork quilting lesson Tickets are £20 each person for the supper. All funds raised will go to the Friends of St Nicholas. If you can’t make the safari su- per but would still like to bid, Simon will bid on your behalf or just come along to the auction at the Oak House that starts at 10pm and bid in person. Please contact Simon or Charlotte if you are able to make a pledge, host a table or for tickets on 01249 716330 or simon.bruce@ btinternet.com 4 Farming notes by Ian Smith Most farmers would, I think, take this the BBC and its vegan fellow travelers I suppose this is pointless, you are all year’s weather in a heartbeat, presuming, blaming the whole woes of the world on going to be burnt to a cinder or drowned of course, that the present unsettled spell meat production. Quite how my cattle by rising sea levels caused by cattle does not stop the combines for too much are harming the planet compared to the belching, in fact be very afraid, farmers longer. There is a reasonable window of dozens of planes that cross the skies of are going to kill everyone. time to get a ripe corn crop in, but the Biddestone parish daily is unexplained. longer it is left the more chance there is Personally I feel I am far more likely to that it will go flat and the grain begin to According to the NFU, admittedly not meet my end in a fug of carbon mon- sprout and spoil.