Upper Rissington’s Newsletter Has summer arrived? Has it been and gone? Who knows – but the summer edition of ‘the Breeze’ is definitely here, and full of news and information as usual. As Wayne mentions in his Social Committee report, there are now so many exciting things going on in the village, it’s great to be able to update everyone. This edition sees the return of ‘Behind the Road Summer 2018 Names’, which I certainly find both interesting and informative – thank you David for putting this Inside this issue: together. We also have our regular contributions Village News p2-5 from Polly, encouraging us all to get out in our gardens, and from the Rissington Stargazers, Local History p3 reminding us to look upwards at night. One of the real benefits of living in this area is the ability to see the Pioneers p5 stars (weather permitting!) and it’s good to have Behind the Road some pointers as to what to look out for. Thank you Names p6-7 as always to all our contributors. Scouts p8 Due to unforeseen circumstances (or too many people being on holiday in August!), the next edition of ‘the CUR:ve News p9 Breeze’ is going to be out a few weeks later than Gardening on a Hill usual, so there’s plenty of time to put together a news report or article if you have something you p10-11 would like to share. The closing date for Little Hurricanes p12 contributions is Friday September 7th, so hopefully everyone will be back from holiday by then! Also if Stargazing p13 you have any comments or suggestions do get in touch Archery p14 with us ([email protected]), it’s always helpful to receive feedback. Useful contacts p24 Have a great summer Sue Handy (editor) Social Committee Update Past Event Update The Easter Egg Hunt was another terrific success with over 125 children running around collecting tokens which they then exchanged for eggs. The Easter Bonnet and Colouring competitions added to the fun. The weather made for a challenging few days cleaning the mud from the Village Hall. Sadly, the heating issues at the Village Hall meant that the planned Curry Quiz in support of the British Legion had to be postposed. Upcoming Events The first event will be the rearranged Curry Quiz, now planned for 9th June. Come along and show off your knowledge, win big and support the British Legion. The event starts at 7.30pm with food served in the interval. Ticket price is £10 per person and the ideal team size (the team size we’ve planned the prizes for) is 6. The ticket price includes food and there will be a pay bar available on the night. Previous Curry Quizzes have been a great night out . July 7th is the date for this years Annual Fete so make sure you’re around to enjoy the Fun Dog Show, Stalls, Food, Bar, Games and Competitions. This is always a great event for getting together with friends and neighbours. Lets hope we get some of the brilliant weather we had for last years Fete. On May 24th the Social Committee will have held it’s Annual General Meeting which is our annual opportunity to update the community on the past year and discuss our upcoming plans. We also hope to recruit new Committee Members at this event so we’ll update in the next issue of The Breeze how we got on. Committee News Family commitments have meant that two of our committee members have sadly had to resign from the group over the last few months. We are tremendously grateful to Kath Finch for the organisation and focus that she’s brought to the position of Secretary. Cherrie Neal has been a stalwart of so many of the Social Committee events that she’s also a great loss to the Committee. On behalf of the community and the Committee thank you. Our finances are looking healthy with around £5,000 in the Bank. This is a key figure for us as it allows the Committee to take some risk with future events and support some other community activities. Last year after the Fete the committee donated to the Village Hall, the Scouts and the Youth Club. At the last meeting a further donation, covering the cost of four new tables, was agreed to the Village Hall. When the Social Committee was established Upper Rissington was, socially, a very different place. In the last few years we’ve seen a ballooning in the number of organisations developing the 2 community. We now have a number of new groups including Scouts, The Pioneers, Rissington Singers, The Little Hurricanes and the School. We also have the Hangar and Runner Bean adding to the events and occasions available to the community. It seems a good time to relook at the events that the Social Committee specialises in. Consequently, at the last meeting of the Social Committee, it was agreed that we would focus on four major events a year: the Fete, Fireworks Display, Easter Egg Hunt and the Christmas Party. Other special events may come along that the Social Committee will take part in or organise but our declared focus will now be these four events and we will aim to make them the best we possibly can. Volunteers Needed We always welcome new committee members and the AGM in May might find us a few more members. In addition we always welcome the help of those in the community who may not wish to sit on a committee but might be prepared to support events on the day. We particularly need helpers for the village fete across a range of areas, serving on stalls, supervising games and competitions, helping with the cleaning up and preparation. If you would like to help out, please get in touch at [email protected]. Rissingtons Local History Society Pete Ralph gave a fascinating talk on the Forest of Dean, where he is a volunteer guide, to a packed hall in March. We learnt about its history and the diversity of animals, trees and occupations it has supported over the years. A large group of members and friends visited the Bodleian Library in Oxford in April, and were guided round the old library by expert guides, followed by a short introduction to the new library – the number of books stored there and in their book depository in Swindon is staggering! The History of RAF Little Rissington by David Brown is our topic for May and we are expecting a lot of interest as it is a topic so close to home. Forthcoming events: Friday 15th June 2018 10.15am A guided walking tour of Burford. Roger Bellamy will lead the walk around this beautiful historical town, taking us through 2,000yrs of Burford’s history. Venue Meet at Warwick hall café, next to the church. £10pp to include coffee. Optional lunch afterwards. Limited places and open to members only – contact Sue Brown 01451 820233 to reserve a place. There will be no events in July and August, so enjoy the summer. Our first visit on Friday 21st September is a tour of the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, Gloucester Docks, as it is the Centenary of the end of WW1. Visitors Welcome - £3.50 to include refreshments. For further information, please contact Sue Brown on 01451 820233/[email protected] or Tony Ellam on 01451 8333854/[email protected]. 3 Village Hall Update The Heat is on… After what seems like an age we finally got to grips with the Hall heating problems. We have a new heat exchanger in the boiler. The system’s been flushed, dosed and balanced. It’s been overhauled and serviced to within an inch of its life. It’s almost a shame that we’re having a warm spell of weather so we can’t really stress test it. However, with the work that’s been done and the initiation of a good annual service routine we feel pretty confident that we have a good, reliable system. The Hub of the Community Our hope has always been to develop the Hall as a major hub of our community and it’s certainly developing that way. Activities in the Hall include dance classes, fitness classes, Yoga classes, self -defence classes, coffee mornings, family parties, community events, meetings and talks. At the website (URVH.org) you can see the full diary of events and contact details for any sessions that you might want to join. What’s New Now that the heating situation is under control we can reinstate our planned program of investments. The main-hall furniture will be updated this coming quarter. The new furniture will partly be the same as the new furniture in the community room and partly be a new heavy-duty chair suitable for indoor or outdoor use. We will be able to dispose of the older more cumbersome furniture and organise the storeroom a little better. Also this quarter we will be putting an opaque covering on the windows in the community room. This will be the same material as we recently placed on the windows of the main hall and will provide the same level of privacy to users of the Hall. Two pieces of feedback we’ll be responding to this quarter relate to the identification of the Hall. The first is signage pointing out where it is, the second is a sign on the Hall identifying it as the Village Hall. The first of these we are limited in what we can do, but we will push developers and GCC Highways to provide road signs to the Hall.