feb 2018 no 449 - biddestonevillage.co.uk · page 4 charity coffee morning – thanks from...

Feb 2018 No 449

Editorial Committee [email protected] Editor Linda Lobl-Smith Home Farm 714475 Treasurer Annalisa Duff Willow Lodge 712247 Julie Walton The Old Rectory 701784 Chris Draper Home Farm Cottage 248557 Lorena Roberts 7 Cuttle Lane 713000

Biddestone Broadsheet and the website seek to reflect the life and interests of the village. Written contributions are invited from readers on any subject that will be of interest. Photos, Drawings and Art work would also be welcome. Any opinions expressed or implied within this publication are not necessarily those of the Editor or Committee and no responsibility can be accepted for any errors of fact printed in these pages. We will of course endeavour to be as accurate as possible.

Last copy date 3rd Sunday in the month, copy should be sent to the Editor at the email address above.

Biddestone Village Website www.biddestonevillage.org.uk A full colour version of the Broadsheet can be found online, If you do not wish to have your contact details published

online then please make the editor aware of your preference. Any other notices or contributions to be posted specifically

on the website should be sent to the email address above. The website also has a live feed from the Biddestone Village Face-

book page ( you can view this without having your own Facebook account )

To post an item on the Facebook page, please email [email protected]

To post an item on the Biddestone Village Website, please contact the Editor Linda Lobl-Smith

Classes available in Biddestone Village Hall

Monday 9.45 – 11.45 am Painting Group Sue Tennant – 01249 720615 Monday 6.15 – 7.15 Physio led Pilates (Pre-booking only) Bridget Bazell – 07841027603 or [email protected] Monday 8.00 – 10.00 pm Hips & Haws Clog Jan Field – 01380 827140 or [email protected] Tuesday 9.00 – 10.00 am Real Life Yoga Emma Goodwin – 07771662567 or [email protected] Tuesday 7.00 – 9.00 pm Iyengar Yoga Class Edgar Stringer - [email protected] Wednesday 10.00 – 11.30 am Iyengar Yoga Class Lydia Holmes – [email protected] Wednesday 10.00 – 12.00 am Writing Group Tim Smith – 01249 714455 or [email protected]

Wednesday 12.00 – 4.00 pm Quilting and Patchwork Class Anne Chapman - 01249 782842 (not 3rd Wednesday in the month) Wednesday 2.00 – 4.00 pm Womens Institute (3rd Wednesday in month)

Wednesday 6.00 – 7.00 Circuit Training

Simon Bennett – 07815619138 or [email protected]

Thursday 9.00 – 10.00 am Real Life Yoga Emma Goodwin – 07771662567 or [email protected] Thursday 10.30 – 11.30 am Pilates for begin-ners/intermediate The Stonehouse Clinic -01249 700417 or stonehouseclinic.co.uk Thursday 7.30 – 10.00 pm Modern Sequence Dancing Phil Fletcher – 01793 936091 or [email protected] Friday 6.30 – 8.00 pm Yoga for healthy backs, knees and shoulders Lydia Holmes [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]






Front Cover Weathervane photo, thanks to Nigel Ross-Smith., and for the photos on pg 8. Thanks also to Simon Bruce for the photos of the Church Bells and the Advent supper and to Chris Draper for the Christmas concert photo. Welcome to the village, Jason Baxter has moved into Quoin Cottage, Harts Lane. We hope you will be very happy in your new home here in Biddestone. Many thanks to all those who joined the Carol Singing round the village on 20 December. I think it was a very good idea to start in The Tynings, and I hope the residents there and elsewhere could hear us. Thanks too to Ian and Linda for their warm hospitality again. We raised £87.65, which has been passed to Julian House, and they were very grateful. Alison Flint The Fete Committee would like to thank Glynn the gamekeeper for this year's Christmas tree on The Green together with David Taylor and John Collet for putting it up and Ronnie Needham and Andy Granger for the lights. It wouldn't be Christmas in Biddestone without it! PS. Thanks also to Andrew and Gill Stafford who supplied the electricity for the lights!

Feb 2018

Overheard in Biddestone… True or False?.....you decide! Have you seen the man from Warner Bros. scouting the village for a movie set in 1945??? Or are the team from ‘ Agatha Raisin’ returning soon! Biddestone Stud, mystery buyer wants it for his polo ponies... Meghan and Harry planning secret wedding in country church...

Psst… got any news… we will be in the White Horse On the first Monday of every month.

Charity coffee morning – thanks from Intervolve

Intervolve would like to say thank you to Biddestone for the coffee morning which raised £600 for Irida, our multicul-tural women’s centre in Thessaloniki, Greece. This money helped us to offer two weeks of successful open days for women and their families to visit the centre and try some of the activities. We received so much positive feedback from women from refugee, migrant and local communities, who told us how much they need this space to meet other wom-en, learn new skills and access support. Women described the centre as a “beautiful space and beautiful energy”; “children and women smiling enjoying and connecting, it was magic” and told us “we want to come everyday”. The rest of the money raised will go towards our programme running costs, such as buying materials for workshops. To keep up to date with the Irida centre and Intervolve’s other projects please follow us on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/InterVolve/

FEBRUARY RECIPE CAULIFLOWER SOUP A simple winter soup. 1 onion roughly chopped 1 cauliflower 2 sticks of celery, sliced 1 litre of vegetable or chicken stock 100ml single cream 1 bay leaf

Sauté onion and celery in oil or butter, on a low heat for about 15 mins until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add hot stock, cauliflower and bay leaf and simmer for 15-20 mins until the cauliflower is soft. Liquidise until smooth. Add the cream and reheat. Serve hot. Parmesan or another cheese of your choice can be added or serve with a sprinkling of chives. By Julie Walton

Film Review Paterson Director: Jim Jarmusch, USA, 2016, 118min This delightfully gentle, off the wall comedy follows a week in the life of Paterson, a young bus driver and would-be poet, living in the town of the same name in New Jersey. Nothing really happens in this particular week – and yet everything that’s important happens. We see his contented relationship with his wife, Laura, a free-spirited, creative woman who loves to decorate everything in black and white geomet-ric patterns, from their curtains to her clothes, from cup cakes to their dog’s collar. The dog, a grumpy bulldog named Marvin, watches the couple closely and lives for his evening walk with Paterson, accepting being tied up outside the bar Paterson visits every evening for a single beer and a chat with the regulars. Every day he walks the same route to the garage, listens sympathetically to the woes of his boss, and drives the same bus route, observing the passengers coming and going, overhearing their conversations. Every day he works on his heartfelt (but not particularly good) poetry, based on his observations of life in the town. Paterson is also the title of a volume of poetry by the 20th century poet William Carlos Williams, a contemporary of Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot, who wrote about everyday life in the town. This is clearly an influence on the lead character and indeed on the style of this film. The director, who also wrote the screenplay and composed the soundtrack, pays homage to Williams by reflecting gently on ordinary, everyday life and on the creative energy of the two main characters. The film’s simplicity and innocence is a rarity in modern cinema, and is what makes this a beautiful and memorable experience. Adam Walton

Bridge Club The Bridge Club will meet at The White Horse Pub at 7pm on February 5th. The club will meet for a social evening of Bridge, no tuition is available, so players must have some level of experience. Anyone interested should contact; Ian Smith 01249 714475 Jane Iggulden 01249 713311

NEWS FROM ST NICHOLAS

On Saturday 9th December a traditional event took place on The Green by the duck pond. Children and a few adults jumped over the weather vane! Evidently this has happened a couple of times before when the weather vane has been removed for repairs. Fancy being able to look up at the church in the future and say you jumped over the weather vane – rather impressive! The weather vane has been gilded and looks just beautiful in the sunshine, now that it is back on the top of the newly repaired bell cote. The ship symbol is appropriate for St Nicholas who is the patron saint of sail-ors and children. He is famous for his generosity, having anonymously provided three penniless girls with dowries. He threw purses of money into the house, or left them in stockings - his Dutch name gives us San-ta Claus. The children were all given a small wooden plaque of a ship engraved with ‘St Nicholas, Biddestone, 2017’ commemorating the occasion that they jumped over the weather vane. The bells are now installed and ringing again and were first rung before the Advent Supper which Charlotte and Simon Bruce conducted magnificently. Thank you to them and all who helped to make it such a happy event. Thank you also to everyone who has made the repair of our beautiful church possible and particularly to Catherine Armstrong who oversaw the whole project. Diane Ross-Smith

BIDDESTONE GIFTS

Apron £8 Canvas Bag

£4

Mugs £4.50/per or 2 for £8 or 4 for £15

T-Towels £3.50/per or 2 for £6

Pack of Cards £2

All available at Home Farm, Harts

Lane,

Biddestone.

please call 01249 714475

COMPUTER PROBLEMS?

For technical assistance with Computers, Laptops or Mobile phones.

Call/Email: Tom Lobl

01249 714475 / [email protected] Reasonable Rates, no job too small!

2017 End of Year News highlights

The Church Weathervane

Further to the note in the last Broadsheet on the bellcote repair of St.Nicholas’ Church, the weathervane was present-ed to the church by Admiral Sir Charles Briggs in the late 1920’s. This information came from his daughter, Rhoda, and her younger brother, Earnest. Sir Charles was a church-warden at the time and lived with Lady Briggs and their six children at Willow House, the Green, until his death in 1951. His choice of subject matter or the vane reflected Sir Charles naval career. Tony Emery

Kenyan Farming Notes

Kenya is very different to Biddestone, Cotswold stone, patchwork field landscapes, reasonably well maintained tarmac roads are not so much in evidence. It is also a very long way away, we flew direct taking about nine hours, after four and a half hours we were more of less over Abu Simbal, where we were a thousand miles into the African continent yet only half way to Nairobi. However, on arrival there is much to be said for waking up in a penthouse flat, courtesy of my dear step-daughter, with a panoramic view across the Nairobi metropolis to the Ngong hills to the south and the Rift valley to the north, and over breakfast on the balcony watching the black kites wheeling through the air. Nairobi is not in the game country but in the nearby National Park you can lunch on a veranda and see giraffe, zebra, buffalo and impala, lions, rhinos, baboons and the enchanting weaver birds and wonder what it must have been like before men came along and built a city. I went for a walk in the lodge grounds and came across the man whose job it was to grow all the lodge produce in his hessian covered vegetable garden. I ventured to say I was some sort of farmer and he was thrilled to show me his deep red soil and organic crops, he was especially big on earth worms. I spent half an hour with him, I think he was one of the most dignified and naturally intelligent men I have ever met, yet when he showed me where he lived it was a two-roomed round tin shack. It made me a bit ashamed really and I could not help but wonder that with people like him why do African countries often seem to make such a mess of things. This was a recurring theme throughout the visit, it was obvious that there were loads of hardworking Kenyans and yet on the rail journey from Mombassa to Nairobi about 400 miles looking at the country with a farmer’s eye, there is obviously millions of acres producing about 2% of bugger all, and if you took away the odd power line and road, life would appear to be very lit-tle different than it would have been pre-industrialization. I don’t think I saw a single dividing fence on that train journey, compared to England where every square inch is parcelled up and owned by someone. This was even more evident when travelling north into the rift valley, dropping over the scarp about an hour out of Nairobi you think you might be looking at the beginning of the world, the great grasslands and hills lead away below you, the horizons are wider here on the equator. What it is in fact is the wild west with lorries, all life is lived beside the road, while on the pas-tures men tend herds of cattle and goats as they always have. You don’t have to be a farmer to see that there are far too many of them, this was the end of the wet season, but the grass was eaten right out, what would happen in a real drought does not bear thinking about. I suppose that is Africa, maybe it is not really a thing but a feeling that operates at its own timeless pace, who are we coming from a completely different climate and history to be sure that we know better, the man with his vegetables and earthworms seemed content, good luck to him.

Ian Smith

On a Tree Fallen Across the Road (To Hear Us Talk)

The tree the tempest with a crash of wood Throws down in front of us is not to bar

Our passage to our journey's end for good, But just to ask us who we think we are

Insisting always on our own way so.

She likes to halt us in our runner tracks, And make us get down in a foot of snow

Debating what to do without an ax.

And yet she knows obstruction is in vain: We will not be put off the final goal

We have it hidden in us to attain, Not though we have to seize earth by the pole

And, tired of aimless circling in one place,

Steer straight off after something into space.

Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

Thank you to Hilary Noyes for this months poetry selection

Team BB TC BCC CC EE DH SS BS

No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Date

01.11.2017 1 4 10 4 10

08.11.2017 2 6 9 5 8

15.11.2017 3 4 12 10 2

22.11.2017 4 4 10 6 8

29.11.2017 5 2 6 12 8

06.12.2017 6 3 C C 11

13.12.2017 7 4 6 10 8

20.12.2017 8 14 6 0 8

03.01.2018 9

10.01.2018 10

17.01.2018 11

24.01.2018 12

31.01.2018 13

07.02.2018 14

15

16

17

18

Played 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 4

Points 25 22 28 32 26 35 7 35

Place

BVHRT Skittles League

Village Bonfire & Fireworks Night 2017

Well done and thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this such an enjoyable and successful evening , a really good community event enjoyed by all.

The Christmas Concert by Caroline Dale and Friends This popular annual event was sold out well in advance, playing to a packed house in the Biddestone Arms, the players entertained the crowd with a mix of classical piec-es, carols and the rousing finale of Bohemian Rhapsody! Well done and thank you to all involved.

Record of meeting of Biddestone & Hartham Women's Institute, 17 January 2018 Val Ringham, in the Chair, welcomed nine members and one visitor, and introduced our speaker, Mrs. Beryl Pendlay, whose talk was entitled "Spooky Genealogy". Explaining what this meant, Mrs. Pendlay, a professional Genealogist, said she would be talking about how the involvement of her ancestors had unexpectedly but constantly turned up in her life. She had discovered that every time she and her family moved house they found themselves living in an area, or somet imes the same house, that her ancestors had owned. This was true of a cottage in the New Forest and then areas of Southampton, and most recently when she moved from London to Compton Bassett. Even when she was working at the College of Arms in London she discovered that her most famous ancestor, William Marshall, was buried in the Temple Church nearby. She wondered whether her ancestors had been guiding her from place to place, or whether it involved inherited memories. Following her talk, Mrs. Pendlay answered questions on the best way to re-search family history and genealogy. Val R gave the Vote of Thanks. Refreshments were served by Carol, and the raffle prize she provided was won by Jan. Alison read the Minutes of the last meeting, which were signed as a correct record. As the Minute Book was now full, it was agreed that Ali-son should buy a ring binder to hold future Minutes Matters Arising Carol confirmed that the bank refund was in respect of historic charges. Val R said the programme for 2018 could now be completed and would be distributed at the March meeting. Val S-J collected members' ballot forms on the Resolutions and would send them to the Federa-tion. Correspondence. Notices received about: Morning with Mendelssohn — three members were interested, and Carol would apply for tickets; Science of the Cream Tea; New Speakers' Day — no interest as we already had enough speakers for the coming year; Scrabble Day; Perfor-mance of The Pirates of Penzance; Talk by Pippa Greenwood; Basket-weaving — Val R would be going to this. Finance. Carol reported that our situation was healthy, and she gave details of how this had improved markedly over the past few years, partly due to donations from the Fete Committee and the Parish Council (following the filming in the village). The figures she had prepared for the year-end accounts were skewed slightly following the decision of the Village Hall Committee not to charge the W.I. in future for use of the hall; Val R would send a letter of thanks for this. Carol also reported that the W.I. funds were now held in a "Restricted Fund", so that if for any reason the branch had to close these funds would pass to the village. Carol accepted payments from members for the new annual subscrip-tion. Next meeting would be the AGM on 21 February. The current committee were willing to stand again, and nominations for President should come from those four. Other members would be very welcome. Challenges. There were several examples of sentences made from the letters of GENEALOGY. For the next meeting members should bring photographs of themselves when younger, to be identified.

Alison Flint

BIDDESTONE BOOK CLUB

Thank you to Mary Owen for hosting our January meeting. There were mixed reactions to the book ‘Hag-Seed’ by Margaret Atwood. It is a reworking of the story of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. On February 12th we shall meet at Mel’s house at 7.15 p.m. to discuss ‘The Essex Serpent’ by Sarah Perry. In March we will be reading ‘Days Without End’ by Sebastian Barry.

If you have any questions please phone Diane on 712105.

BIDDESTONE Village Walk – NEW YEARS EVE 2017. The latest village walk took place on 31st December 2017. Everyone assembled on the village Green at 11.00 am, despite

the rather gloomy weather forecast. We were delighted that 28 people turned out along with a motley crew of canine companions. We welcomed some newcomers to the village, some villagers who have not joined us before and also the usual hardcore walkers.

The route took us from the Green up the footpath in Ham Lane onto the Slaughterford Road. Getting everyone safely over

the stone stile was quite tricky due to a huge build up of rainwater and mud. We walked along Slaughterford Road for about 500 yds, then took the footpath directly in front, which crosses 2 fields diagonally and joins up with Slaughter-ford Hill. We descended the hill for another 500 yds, then turned left onto a Bridleway which drops down to Slaugh-terford corner. By this time, several people realised that they had inadequate footwear, due to the seriously muddy and slippery conditions. However we all pressed on and no-one was left behind.

We paused on the pretty bridge over the Bybrook and took the group photos, which proved more difficult than the walk-

ing –“ herding cats “springs to mind! We then followed the footpath that runs from Slaughterford to Ford and is part of the Macmillan Way. When we crossed

the Bybrook river on the footbridge, the water was absolutely raging and had burst its banks in many places. Great care had to be taken that no-one slipped into the river and we all had to restrain our dogs, who usually love a swim at this point. The current was terrifically strong and many remarked that they had not seen the river as high, for a great many years.

We had intended to cross the weir at Slaughterford Gate and then walk a circular route back to Manor Farm Slaughterford.

But when we crossed the bridge we realised that there was so much floodwater ahead, it was impassable, so we had to seek an alternative way. We walked up the footpath to our left and did a rectangle, bringing us back to the bottom of the village. From there we walked up the hill and then turned right onto the footpath which runs past the picturesque tiny church of St Nicholas, which is in the middle of the field. The path turns back down the hill and once again we arrived at Slaughterford corner. There is a choice of routes from there back to Biddestone and we opted to navigate straight up the very steep side of the valley on the edge of Backpath Woods, to Slaughterford Rocks. After getting our breath back and pausing to wonder at the fantastic views all around, we made our leisurely way back across several level fields,onto Ham Lane and then back to the centre of the village.

The walk took about 2.5 hours in total and for those of us who had a FitBit for Christmas, we did over 13,000 steps, which

equates to approx. 6 miles, which should have helped with all the over indulgence of the festive season. Refreshments were then taken in the White Horse pub, for those who could stay on for a while, which made a very nice

and convivial end to the year. Kate Jones

National open Garden Scheme

Sunday 25th March

Biddestone Manor Gardens

Open from 2pm – 5pm

Adults £5 Children Free (Under 16)

To raise money for the NGS charities

Teas, coffee and hot chocolate, and cakes

will be served

Our front gate will be open for villagers or

parking in the field behind the

Manor ( weather permitting )

Group visits available in March/April or

May, all welcome – Rosie, Head Gardener,

01249 713211

Dogs welcome on leads please

Moviola

Grittleton Village Hall

Wednesday February 28th

Goodbye Christopher Robin [PG]

A rare glimpse into the relationship between beloved children’s author A. A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) and his son Christopher Robin (Will Tilston, Alex Lawther), whose toys inspired the magical world of Winnie the Pooh. Along with his mother Daphne (Margot Robbie), and his nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald), Christopher Robin and his family are swept up in the international success of the books; the en-chanting tales bringing hope and comfort to England after the First World War. But with the eyes of the world on Christopher Robin, what will the cost be to the family? Fox Searchlight Pictures. Despite the PG classification, this is not a children’s film. Rather in the man-ner of Saving Mr Banks, it explores some quite dark themes.

Tickets £6 adults from Lesley on 01249 783157 or email [email protected] [underscore between l and p]

Doors open 7pm, programme starts at 7.30pm

Future dates for your 2018 diary

All Wednesdays

March 21st Breathe

April 25th Murder on the Orient Express

Did you make a New Year’s res-

olution to get outdoors, and get

more exercise?

ALLOTMENTS AVAILABLE For the new season, located at the village hall,

for more information please contact

David Daniel

01249 701311

First published in ‘The Honeycomb’ for FEBRUARY 2014

ACROSS 1. Night vision blurred - unable to see this? (6) 4. Old Roman Emperor with us requires a great deal of ef-fort. (7) 9. Letter used in writing 2 down is sharp! (5) 10. Plant found in different medium, Monet painted in oils! (5, 4) 11. Gloucestershire author sounds like truck with field! (6, 3) 12. High class herb consumption! (5) 13. Headless corpse causes quarrel. (4) 14. Building in 1 down with job and workplace? (4, 6) 18. Vanity afflicting 25 across? (10) 20. Ring for Di at 1 down 14 across? (4) 23. Surprise, trap and contract a dilemma if followed by 22? (5) 24. Safari taken with old dogs to see big cat – missing start? (9) 25. Wordsworth sad if fold hindered image of these? (9) 26. Defence plea of party member surrounded by the best? (5) 27. Secure hut the French pursue? (7) 28. Meeting with medium confuses Seneca. (6) DOWN 1. Irritate fashionable distinction of this local village. (9) 2. Old English poem initially found in British explanation of words underlying language formerly. (6) 3. Pulse taken at time of fasting - I love at first! (6) 4. Love true composition that’s unusual and shocking! (5) 5. Fame, furs – worried they’ll go to your head – for protec-tion? (8) 6. I’m a giro folded backwards for Japanese art? (7) 7. Sounds like way in to field with panache! (5) 8. Gulps down birds? (8) 15. Tangled cassette provides precedent in law. (4, 4) 16. Inelegant wild prickly rose? (9) 17. Stroke in cricket which enables one to catch a sole? (4, 4) 19. Artist volunteers unfinished authorization for consump-tion of this liqueur? (7) 21. Note Idi muddled may prove expensive for first issue. (7) 22. Help for Noah on the radio to find place of amusement? (6) 23. Morse, highway and legal symbols? (5) 24. Cream found in caramel I tested? (5)

1 2 3 a a 4 5 6 7

a a a 8 a a a a

9 a 10

a a a a a a a

11 a 12

a a a a a a a a a

13 a 14 15 16

a a a 17 a a a a a a

18 19 a 20 21

a a a a a a a 22 a a

23 a 24

a a a a a a a

25 a 26

a a a a a a a

27 a a 28

Church Services for February 2018

ST. NICHOLAS, BIDDESTONE 4 Holy Communion 11.00 a.m.

11 Evensong 4.00 p.m. 18 Morning Praise 9.30 a.m. 25 TEAM SERVICE Littleton Drew 10.00 a.m. 4th MARCH Holy Communion 11.00a.m.

Every Wednesday morning there is a service at 9.15 a.m. This is either Holy Communion or Morning Prayer and includes prayers for the suffering.

ST. NICHOLAS, SLAUGHTERFORD 11 BCP Holy Communion 11.00 a.m.

Full colour issue online: www.biddestonevillage.org.uk

SCRUB CLEARANCE DAYS - DATES FOR YOUR DIARY- AUTUMN & WINTER 2017/18 Scrub clearance days at West Yatton Down SSSI will be held on the second Friday of each autumn and winter month, to conserve the environment on this beautiful site supporting nine species of orchid and more than thirty species of butterfly. Volunteers should wrap up warm; bring a picnic lunch or flask of tea if you would like to do a further hour or so in the afternoon. We have purchased some fabulous tools called Tree Poppers, they remove the roots too, and you’ll love them. Location: Park along the roadside at the Long Dean Y fork on the side of the road from West Yatton to Castle Combe SU851 759 (OS Map 173) Leaders: Maurice Avent & Alan Needham (01249-713218) Friday 9th February 2018 – 11.00am Friday 9th March 2018 - 11.00am (Individuals with a Chainsaw qualification will be welcome)

* STOP PRESS* Missed the BBS deadline? have something urgent to tell the village? Lost dog, cat ,phone! An event to publicise? Then put it on the Village Facebook page, contact Anita or Linda at [email protected]

feb 2018 no 449 - biddestonevillage.co.uk · page 4 charity coffee morning – thanks from...

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