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Meare primary school sing for the community …… A group of children from Meare Primary School performed a mix of traditional and new Christmas songs for everyone at the village Carol Service as well as the Hosted Post Office during December. They sang with real enthusiasm, clarity and harmony - a credit to parents, to Jan Fellows as Head Teacher and especially to Jane Higgs whose musical skills made this such a delight. Facebook: Meare and Westhay News Website: www.meareandwesthay.com 1 2 MENDIP COMMUNITY TRANSPORT NEEDS YOU …. Why not join us as a volunteer Hospital Car Driver MAGAZINE DATES & CONTACT INFORMATION ISSUE DEADLINE DISTRIBUTION April / May 1st March 2019 31st March 2019 June / July 1st May 2019 31st May 2019 ● Please send all articles and advertising to: [email protected] or deliver to Manor Coach House, Main Road, WESTHAY, BA6 9TW ● MATERIAL RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE CANNOT BE INCLUDED. ● A down-load copy of Meare & Westhay Village News is available from the website: www.meareandwesthay.com Meare & Westhay Village News wel- ADVERTISING RATES comes all and any contributions to the Rates are per annum - six copies magazine. However it should be remem- bered that any views or comments ex- Outside Back Cover (Colour) pressed are those of the individual 1/8 Page 1/4 Page contributor and do not in any way reflect £36.00 £66.00 the opinion of the magazine, the Editor Inside Front or Back Cover (Monochrome) or the Parish Council. 1/8 Page 1/4 Page The editorial team also wish to make it £33.00 £60.00 clear they reserve the right to amend, ed- Inside Pages (Monochrome) it or omit any article or contribution in the interests of legality, public decency, 1/8 Page 1/4 Page 1/2 Page Full Page availability of space or any other reason. £27.50 £49.00 £92.00 £180.00 Invoices for advertisements will be sent by the Treasurer (Mrs Ann Giles) and must be settled prior to appearance of the advert in the magazine. Cheques should be made payable to “MEARE PARISH MAGAZINE FUND” 3 ANNOUNCEMENTS - WEDDINGS Many congratulations to Jane Wortley and Roger Clarke who married at Wells Town Hall on 7th November and held their reception at Meare Manor. DEATHS Brother and Sister - Geoff and Annabell Wilkins (later Scriven) Geoffrey Gwilym Wilkins - 1934 to 2018 Geoff passed away on 30th October aged 84. He was born in Meare where he lived throughout his life. He worked at Morlands Factory and, as a young boy, used to help his mother clean the brass in St Mary’s Church. Annabell Scriven (nee Wilkins) 1939 to 2018 Annie passed away on 29th November aged 79 She was also born in Meare and moved to Street when she married. ‘Annie’ was a member of both St Mary’s Guild and The Ladies Social Club, playing skittles just two weeks prior to her death. 4 THANK YOU MESSAGE The family of Geoff Wilkins and Annabell Scriven (nee Wilkins) would like to convey their thanks for the kind messages of sympathy and the many cards which the family received. Also to the many people who at- tended Geoff's service at St Mary's church in Meare and Annabell (An- nie's) service at the Parish Church in Street. Geoff and Annabell were the grandchildren of The Reverend Jenkins who was the vicar of Meare in the late 1930's. Once again thank you from all the family. If anyone within or related to the Parish of Meare wish to make announcements of births, celebrations, deaths or obituaries please do send details to the Editor (details at the front of this magazine). Photographs are very welcome; if you have problem copying or sending these, again, please contact the Editor. MEARE GALA PARADE - MONDAY 26TH MAY 1980 ‘Service with a Smile’ for Tracey Tucker (2nd left) from ‘Bunny Girls’ ● Wendy Carroll ● Carol Spencer ● Katherine Difford (From Central Somerset Gazette, Thursday May 29th 1980) Courtesy of Colin Carroll (Apologies for the quality of the image - this is a rather yellow newsprint arti- cle that is 38 years old though we’re sure it’ll still bring a smile) 5 ST MARY’S GUILD - FROM START TO CLOSE At the end of January 1957 a group of young wives and mothers decided to set up a Young Wives Group with: ● Group Leader - Mrs O. Fear ● Deputy Leader - Mrs D. Roland ● Secretary - Mrs D. Arnold ● Treasurer - Mrs J. Baker ● Committee - Mrs Walter Mrs Watts and Mrs Hooper It was agreed that each member would give 6d at each meeting. Mrs Watts, Mrs Walter and Mrs Crane offered to make refreshments at each meeting - all three ladies were the school cooks at the time. Some of the early talks given were on Home Nursing by the District Nurse, Leather Working by Mrs Roland, Mr N. Jones gave a talk on the Bible and Mrs Pool spoke on Marriage Guidance. The group raised funds to give Christmas parcels to the elderly in the parish. They also raised and donated money to different charities and helped with Church activities. At the Annual General Meeting in May 1963 a vote was taken to change the group name to St. Mary’s Guild, this was agreed and the new committee was elected: ● Joint Leaders - Mrs Roland and Mrs Fear ● Business Secretary - Mrs. R. Baker ● Social Secretary - Mrs G. Huntley ● Treasurer - Mrs S. Probert ● Catering Officer - Mrs M. Difford ● Committee - Mrs. R. Toogood Mrs J. Stone Mrs R. Simmons and Mrs N. Hughes At the meeting on 16th May 1967, congratulations were given to Mrs Ruth Baker and Mrs Angela Hughes who were new mothers. Mrs Hughes’ baby girl had broken the weight record at Butleigh Hospital. At the A.G.M. in May 1967, Mrs Elizabeth Loxton became a committee mem- ber and has been the leader in 1990 and 2000, and from 2006 until the present day 2018. This means she has been a member for over 50 years. ….... continued 6 Other long serving present day members include: Mrs Muriel Baker Mrs Ruth Baker Mrs Glenis Difford Mrs Ann Broadie and Mrs Jean Stone ….. Forgive me if I have missed anyone. Speakers on many subjects have informed and entertained over the years. Donations to charities and local projects have been made regularly. This is a very short history and I apologise to all the leaders and officers I could not include because they are too numerous; however they all made St. Mary’s Guild’s history. I am sad to say that over the last couple of years the Guild has lost many members who have passed away or moved away and as this has left the membership depleted. A difficult decision has been made to close. The last meeting of St. Mary’s Guild will take place in the Church Rooms on Thurs- day 3rd of January 2019 with a New Year’s meal. ….. and here it is, the last photograph of the last meeting of St Mary’s Guild Photograph from 3rd January 2019 at Meare Church Rooms Thank you to all members and supporters over the past 62 years. (Secretary) St. Mary’s Guild 7 ST. MARGARET’S HOSPICE - your used stamps ….. A big THANK YOU to everyone who have taken the trouble to deposit their used stamps in the collection boxes stationed throughout the Parish. These boxes will be left in position until the end of January when all the stamps collected will be taken to St Margaret’s Hospice depot to raise money for that charity. We will repeat this in November but, in the meantime, it is still worthwhile holding onto any used stamps and saving them for the collection boxes. I also want to say THANK YOU to each of the venues who have kindly accommodated these boxes: Brian & Ruby’s Fruit & Veg, Bird in Hand, Meare Church Rooms, Meare Chapel, St Mary’s Church and Westhay Schoolrooms. - Editor 8 9 NOTICE BOARD Each Friday 9.30 - 12.30 Meare Church Rooms 10 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Need for Faster Broadband - “Emma and I run a financial consultancy from our home on Westhay Moor Drove (the Godney Road) and, like many businesses, depend on a relia- ble and efficient internet service. We opted for BT fibre when it was first introduced to the village to try and improve speed – whilst it has made a slight improvement our distance from the BT “green box” in the centre of the village does result in a signifi- cant drop in speed from that advertised. As a result our business-critical use of broadband is only bearable at best and painfully slow at worst, particularly when our children are also online. The Truespeed solution is a no-brainer for us given the (promised) speeds on offer. As everyone’s use of the Internet increases for day to day tasks, in addition to entertainment services such as streaming and catch up TV, we may find that 200mbs becomes the essential minimum in future.” A great start but we’re not there yet - As you know TrueSpeed have been holding several events in an Meare and Westhay promoting their Ultra Fast Broadband service. Many of us have signed up but we need more numbers if we’re to benefit in the same way as local areas including Theale, Mudgley and Panborough. Many people have been asking where we are in respect of our target. I have spoken to Tony (our Community Engagement Manager at TrueSpeed) and he tells me that, as of 2nd January, we have 119 proper- ties signed up for the service.