Twyning Bulletin

Issue No 114 October to January 2011-2012 Crab Apples on Hillview Lane TWYNING BULLETIN The newsletter of Twyning Parish Council Summer Fete The Barn Dance At the Charity Cricket Match Events around the Village Green this summer photos by Bob Walton, Dave Luckett and Ian Palmer 2 This time we are celebrating the re- opening of the Village Hall after refurbishment. It has been brightened up with new paintwork and new windows and doors. The kitchen has been thoroughly modernised and the steps re-done with wheelchair access. The new central heating looks very promising! The bar area looks smart. The outside surface has new tarmac and solar panels are fitted on the roof. A ‗Grand Opening‘ is planned for 11th—12th November. See more photos on P 31 We have had several events on the Green this summer, notably the TRAC Fete and Barn Dance, but there was also the annual motor bike gathering and the Morris Dancers. We have two ‗Local Persons‘ this time: Stan Warner, who was born at School Farm and lived here most of his life and Freda Jefferson who was evacuated here in the war to stay with relatives and has returned here on retirement. There is an article about plane trees: most of you will recognise our two large trees on The Green as planes, also often found in capital cities. There are the usual reports from all the very many clubs and organisations that we have here in the Village. You will see that the name Walton appears from time to time! But we would much prefer to see your name here in the Bulletin. We welcome articles from anyone in the village about something local or your photos of events. Andrea Walton Editor Contents P 6 Interviews with local people P 8 Is there a threat to our local way of life? P11 Twyning Players next Production P16 Report from the Fete P21 Picture quiz P25 Church News P29 Celebrations to open the refurbished Village hall P31/32 More colour photos 3 Twyning Parish Council There are two matters where I feel our Village has earned a ―Well Done‖ Diploma. First the Village Hall. Any of you who have had the opportunity to visit the hall in the last few days will be impressed and delighted with the renovation. The fact that the major works were completed with only a few days delay, is in my view fantastic and clearly shows the fruition of all the hard work, and no doubt sleepless nights, put into the project by all concerned, including the Contractors. All this has only been possible due to the forward planning and supervision by John Reynolds and his team, including Geoff Haines for preparing the specifications, meeting potential contactors and obtaining estimates, John Reynolds and Maggie Ball for the negotiations with Tewkesbury Council to obtain the transfer of the agreed grant to the renovation of the hall, Jane Bowers for planning and arranging the new kitchen, the Friends of the Village Hall for raising funds not forgetting the Marmalade makers and of course all those who have quietly worked behind the scenes and whose names I do not know, but they will know who they are. A fantastic job well done, but no doubt, not without its problems and differences of opinion from time to time. You should all be proud of yourselves. Rumour has it that there will soon be a Grand Opening Party and I hope as many of you as possible will be able to attend. At last night‘s meeting the Parish Council agreed to contribute just over £10,000 towards the cost of reno- vating the kitchen and also agreed, if funding was not available from elsewhere, to cover the cost of the outside decorations and the purchase of a further supply of comfortable chairs. The second Well Done Diploma is for the August Bank Holiday Fete and Barn Dance. I am sure everyone who attended either or both events had an excellent time and thanks are due to the members of the TRAC committee for the planning and organisation of the event, and to all those who helped on the day, not forgetting the sellers of the raffle tickets. I have just been informed that the amount raised, from both events, (which is used by TRAC to maintain the children‘s play area) was marginally in excess of £4000. Well done all. The Parish Council has been concerned for some time about the appearance along the approach to the Vil- lage from the cattle grid. We have been pressing both the Highways Agency and County Highways to see if they can arrange for the broken fence to be repaired. With the consent of the Landowner our footpath gang are clearing the verges as fast as they can. The Council are still two members short. PLEASE PLEASE! volunteer to join us by contacting our Clerk, Susan Satchell. Martyn Ryland has kindly taken on the responsibility for the Minibus booking. Finally a big thank you to all who support the Parish Council, and its Chairman, in so many ways. Jeremy Horsfall. Chairman, Twyning Parish Council 20th September 2011. 4 Plane Trees The village green is dominated by two plane trees, the smaller and more northerly being an ori- ental plane (Platanus orientalis), and the larger and more southerly a London plane (Platanus × acerifolia). The London plane is relatively resistant to air pollu- tion, abounding in city squares, but being relatively uncommon in the countryside. It is usually thought to be a hybrid of the ori- ental plane and the American sycamore, and (in spite of its name) was recorded first in Spain in the 17th century, trees of the two species having been planted near to one another. According to John Vallins (The Guardian, 28 June 2011), the plane is venerated in some parts of the world: Xerxes is said to have halted his army in Lydia to admire the beauty of a plane and to enjoy the welcome shade afforded by its great spread. Perhaps the most impressive plane trees in the world are the ones that line the entire 240 km of the Canal du Midi, built in the 17th Century on the orders of the Sun King, Louis XIV (shown above). The canal con- stitutes a World Heritage Site, described by UNESCO as not only ―One of the most remarkable feats of civil engineering‖, but also ―A work of Art‖. Sadly, these trees are under threat from a fungal infection, and it is almost certain that they will all have to destroyed and replaced. There must be a risk that our trees will suffer the same fate. Bob Walton. Gloucestershire Police are getting a new non-emergency telephone number. The new number will be launched on the 19th September and will replace the existing 0845 number. The aim of the new number is to make it easier for the public to contact the police. At the present time each constabulary has its own non-emergency number; from the 19th September the country will all use the same number 101. The public will be given the option to speak to the police in the area that you are calling from, or talk to any constabulary in the country. After being the local officer for the area for the last three years, it is with great sadness I am in- forming local residents that I will no longer be your local officer. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with you all in such a lovely area, and have attended many fun events. Over the next few weeks I will be working alongside your new officer PCSO Angela Parker, introducing her to the local communities. If you see us out and about please come and say hello. Contact details for PCSO Parker are: Tewkesbury Police Station, Barton Street, Tewkesbury, GL20 5PR. Tel:- 101 Gloucestershire Ext 7327 5 Stan Warner when he was Chair of the Parish Council planting a tree with the W I on the Green in 1972 Interview with Stan Warner Stan Warner is well-known in Twyning. He was born in School Farm to a farming family, and has lived in the village all his life, apart from a three-year spell in Suffolk. At the age of 10, he went to stay with friends of his parents for a two-week holiday, and liked it so much there that he stayed for three years. He came back to take up a scholarship at Tewkesbury Grammar School, where his main interests were poetry, drama, and singing – not the obvious background for a farming career. At the age of 17, during the Second World War, he volunteered for service with the RAF but his poor hearing disqualified him. Instead, his family encouraged him to help his grandfather (who was in poor health) to run Hill End Farm, even though he knew little about farming. It was at that farm that he spent the rest of his career, and he is still involved there in a small way. During his working life, he had several agricultural interests and achieved a number of successes. For example, he held various regional and national positions, and he had a prize-winning dairy herd. In addition, Stan served on Twyning Parish Council for an unbroken 33 years, many of them as Chairman. The coming of the motorways had an obvious impact on Twyning and its neighbourhood. Previously, the A38 had been a nightmare on summer weekends, because of the amount of traffic (mainly en route be- tween Birmingham and the West Country).

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