North Cotswold Villages Childswickham, Murcot, Broadway and Leedons Parks, Aston Somerville, Willersey, Hinton in the Green, and Bretforton Over 20.000 hits in 2019 V i l l a g e N e w s December 2019-January 2020 Don’t forget STOP PRESS on the website http://www.village-news.org.uk Send emails to [email protected] Visit the Childswickham website http://www.childswickham.org.uk Next issue FEBRUARY 2020 Deadline January 10th 2020 Childswickham Church St Mary the Virgin 10.30am Carol Strotten, Churchwarden 01386 852312 Ralph Deakin, Churchwarden 01386 854605 Families and children are always welcome at St Mary’s, do come along and join us Services 1st Dec 10.30 Morning Service - Address Femi Oni 8th Dec 10.30 Holy Communion - Revd Penny Frank 15th Dec No Morning Service - 3 pm Village Carols by Candlelight 22nd Dec 10.30 Holy Communion - Canon John Thompstone 25th Dec 10.30 Christmas short service (Angels from the realms of glory) 29th Dec 10.30 Holy Communion - Canon John Thompstone JANUARY 2020 Services continue to be at 10.30am Cleaning Contacts Childswickham Coffee Rota Carol Strotten, Churchwarden 852312 Dec 6th Mrs N Simms & Nov 24th Maria Oni’s team Mrs R Simms [email protected] Dec 1st Rosemary and John Thompstone Dec 20th Mrs Hackett & Mrs Kirk Ralph Deakin, Churchwarden 854605 Dec 8th Paula Cook +1 Dec 15th Margaret Flanaghan and Bell ringers: Jane Allen Tower Captain, Graham Lee Dec 22nd Mary and Richard Burfitt 01386 858422 Dec 29th Joan Barnett +1 Jan 5th Len Wood +1 Jan 12th Angela Kirk and Pat Hackett Jan 19th Maria Oni’s team Jan 26th Paula Cook +1 Thank you for joining with Friends of St Mary’s to celebrate Childswickham’s Harvest Supper in September. A lovely night was had by all with a fabulous dinner and auction. Thank you to each of our generous contributors to the evening, including: An offer of 5 x hours expert Joinery from Joe Allen Hidden Oxford - A personal tour Winter Weekend Break close to the New Forest Personal tour of Warwick in an Open Tourer Bentley (1935) Airport run within a 90 mile radius of Childswickham Family Holiday Nr Barmouth, North Wales A fortnight’s worth of ironing 6 hours worth of taxi runs Fruit & Veg Box £1530 was made and we are looking at the possibility of improving the remaining section of wall. We hope you have enjoyed seeing the churchyard change over the past year with more works and events planned! All funds raised go towards maintaining the church building and grounds for the enjoyment and benefit of all. Fingers crossed for the next phase in our works programme...and events programme! Watch this space. Anona van Lawick Next issue FEBRUARY 2020 Deadline January 10th 2020 FRIENDS OF BROOK STREET FOOTPATH – WILDLIFE AND LANDSCAPE ENHANCEMENT By way of a quick reminder, this is a Community led project, sponsored and funded by Childswickham Cricket Club and Worcestershire County Council (via the New Homes Bonus) with support from Childswickham Parish Council and the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, which aims to enhance the wildlife, landscape and accessibility of this important area of communal open space within the village. On the morning of Sunday 3rd November, as observed by numerous villagers strolling the footpath, the Friends of Brook Street, most ably assisted by volunteers William and George Billings and Tracey Pennington, planted approximately 500 bulbs along Brook Street. The bulbs planted were primarily mixed colour Daffodils, kindly donated by Brenda Chapman, plus Snakehead Fritillaries and English Bluebells. Further planting of Snowdrops, “in the green”, is planned for late spring 2020. The Friends of Brook Street really hope village residents, especially the many who regularly enjoy Brook Street, will kindly donate the Snowdrop plants required from their gardens, plus volunteer to assist with planting at that time. Unfortunately, while planting the bulbs, volunteers had several encounters with “stray” dog mess. As we seek to enhance the accessibility and amenity value of Brook Street, a request to all dog owners to act responsibly, clean up any mess left by your dog and deposit in the Dog Waste bins sited not only at Brook Street, but around the village. Additional activities planned to enhance the existing footpath and to create a space of quiet enjoyment for residents and visitors alike will include: • New Tree Planting and Tree Maintenance • Stump Removal • Hedge Trimming / Bank Management • Habitat creation; Installation of Bird and Bat Boxes Provision of an additional Bench and a Wildlife Interpretation Board As this is a long-term commitment we really encourage all ages to volunteer their services and take part, especially children. This is a wonderful opportunity to work together and manage a shared community asset. Friends of Brook Street continue to seek volunteers to assist with the project, so if you have some spare time, a specialist interest, or wish to support Brook Street in any way please do get in touch! To register your interest and for future updates please contact; Paul Brazier [email protected] or on 01386 858812. On behalf of the Friends of Brook Street. We have a duty – hard won by our forebears – to vote in the forthcoming election, and to unite as a nation behind our newly elected government. The prophets of the Old Testament would suggest that we be mindful of issues of Justice in our society: of loving-kindness towards our fellow citizens: of seeking the common good rather than self-interest: of being mindful of the oppressed in society including the orphan, the widow and the persecuted. It’s worth thinking, carefully, about those things as we prepare to cast our vote. Back in October 1774 John Wesley wrote: “I met those of our Society who had votes in the ensuing election and advised them – 1: to vote without fee or reward for the person they judged most worthy. 2: to speak no evil of the person they voted against. 3. to take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side. Whatever, the outcome, the healing of divisions is going to be necessary, perhaps as never before. Hopefully, accepting the result, and committing ourselves to work together for the future – even with people with whom we disagree – will lead to a nation more at ease with itself than it has been recently: with responsible people whom we can support to advance the issues that most need their attention Ioannus. The Editor and all the contributors to this, your local magazine, would like to take this opportunity to wish you . Next issue FEBRUARY 2020 Deadline January 10th 2020 Day Time Activity Contact Monday 7.00pm–9pm Carpet Bowls from 2nd September Robert Simms 01386 853752 Tuesday 9.15-10.15am Keep Fit Tess 01386 858796 10.30-12.00noon Yoga Aston Colley 01386 870893 6 pm-8 pm Puppy Training Sue 07857 277184 Wednesday 10am- 12.00noon Quilting Georgina 01242 820423 2pm – 4pm Evergreens 2nd/4th week of month Dawn Bindoff 01386 858769 7pm – 9pm WI (1st & last week) Pam Folsom 01386 859397 Thursday 7pm – 9pm Dancing Ballroom Kleo Tanner 01386 858905 7pm – 9pm Parish Council (not April, June, Aug. and December) 01684 773236 Friday 9am-12noon Art Group Claire Watson [email protected] 10am-12noon U3A winter months only 2nd Friday Charges Main Hall Residents £6.50 Non Residents £11.50 Helen’s Room Resident £6.50 Non Residents £11.50 Snooker Residents £4.50 Non Residents £5.00 For more information and to make a booking please contact Anne Wood 01386 854955 See web site for Rules and Conditions http://www.childswickham.org.uk Childswickham WI CARPET BOWLS st The WI meet on the 1 Wednesday of every month Mondays at 7.00pm from 7.15pm in the Village Hall in the Childswickham Memorial Hall on Atkinson Street Childswickham Give the President, Pam Folsom a call on 07712 Everyone welcome 682452 to try a Free of Charge Taster Broadway Station Progress November 2019 Now that the main operating season has finished the station is much quieter. There will be a final burst of activity when trains will be running between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The railway will be closed during January and February, but our work at the station will continue. Passenger numbers have held up well this year against last year’s record total. As was expected the numbers are not as high as for last year, but nevertheless are in line with projections. Our volunteer workers at the station have been engaged on tasks including keeping the station area tidy and vegetation under control. Steady progress is being made on the footbridge. Now that the scaffolding has been removed, it is looking much better. The staircase treads are being fitted – these came with the bridge span from Henley-in-Arden and are in sufficiently good condition to be re-used. Broadway Players Update Broadway Players is delighted to announce its talented bunch of adult performers will be treading the boards of the Lifford Hall again on the 3rd & 4th April 2020 when they stage a hilarious spoof of the Agatha Christie whodunit genre, aptly entitled Murdered to Death , directed by Lesley Wood and assisted by Steve Cook. Add in two murders, a Miss Maple (Marple!) and an Inspector Pratt (Clouseau!) it bodes well for a wickedly funny evening! To reserve tickets, at £10, phone: 01386 853530. For its Winter production at the end of November 2020, Broadway Players is looking to stage either a pantomime or musical and is seeking a director/producer to head this production.