The Pennant - Edition 545 April 2022
Printed courtesy of Mrs Annette Haynes as a service to the community
Please email your entries for the May 2022 issue to ThePennant@mail.com by 21st April 2022
Please be aware, if you have not received your Pennant feel free to pick one up from the Sports Club, Pub or Telephone box. We are all volunteers that work very hard to get the Pennant out in a timely manner, your patience is very much appreciated.
Telephone Box
The Telephone Box Team would like to say a huge thank you to all those of you who generously donated daffodil bulbs, all now in full floral bloom around the village!
The Queen's Platinum Jubilee
A group of villagers, representing many of the groups in the village, has been meeting to plan activities in Bradford Abbas to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Plans include:
Friday 3rd June – Street Party in Church Road (the road will be closed to traffic), Tables will be set up in the street. Villagers and their friends/families are invited to bring a picnic from home (and maybe some chairs). The school has been asked to host stalls and entertainments for children. The W.I. will serve afternoon tea in front of the Village Hall. From 5pm, there will be live music in front of the church and later inside the church. There will be a bar and food available.
Saturday 4th June – The Sports Club will host an afternoon of sporting activities which everybody can join in. The bar will be open and there will be music and a BBQ into the evening. We are hoping to have a dog show in which local dogs and their owners can take part – if you might be able to help organize this, please speak to one of the BASC committee or contact Tricia Chapman.
Sunday 5th June – There will be a late morning brunch in the church. Join us for a bite to eat and to hear some tales of life from the early part of the Queen’s reign.
DECORATING THE VILLAGE – We are asking everyone to help brighten up the village by decorating their houses. Please follow a Red, White and Blue theme. You might have a royal scarecrow or a model of a king or queen from history or make your house like a palace or anything really.
We are planning a big raffle (to be drawn at the pub on Sunday afternoon) and will be asking for donations of prizes. We also hope there will be displays/exhibitions across the long weekend. Details to follow. Please tell your family and friends and join us to make a memorable weekend.
Mixed-Ability Yoga
Bradford Abbas Sports and Recreation Club, DT9 6RP, Thursdays 7 – 8pm, Fridays 11.15am – 12.15pm. Everyone’s welcome to join these friendly, fun classes! Further information or to book please contact Sara Goodchild, tel 07850 477661.
Alzheimer’s Society coffee afternoon
Please come along and support this special charity on the 30th of April 2.30 to 4.30pm at the Bradford Abbas Village Hall, with homemade yummy cakes and drinks, raffle, tombola, homemade cards, book stall, kid’s lucky dip,. Hopefully see you there. Sarah, Jemma, Tania Karen.
St.Mary’s Community Trust
Make a note in your diary and tell your friends...
Friday 3rd June THE CHURCH THAT ROCKS (as part of the village’s Jubilee celebrations).
There will be musical entertainment in front of the church from 5pm.
Later in the evening there will be a band playing inside the church.
Saturday 10th September THE CHURCH THAT ROCKS 2 – in the playing field behind the churchyard.
And in December, we’ll have various Christmassy events – to be announced.
Look out for posters and notices on the Pennant’s Facebook page for details of all these.
If you can help with any of these events, please contact us.
DEFIBRILLATORS
We were reminded recently that some people in the village aren’t aware that we have two defibrillators in the village. One is on the front wall of the Village Hall and the other is on the wall of the Sports Club. If someone in your home is taken ill and you think their heart has stopped. you should immediately phone 999 for an ambulance, start CPR (the ambulance service will talk you through this) and also send someone to fetch the nearest defibrillator. CPR alone will help keep someone alive, but it will not restart a stopped heart. The defibrillator might.
Jo, Alan, Rob, Ruth, Trevor and Gary, The ST MARY’S COMMUNITY TRUST team
email: info@StMarysWeekBA.org.uk.
St.Mary’s CE Primary School
This month, the highlight for us at St Mary’s Primary School has been celebrating World Book Day. This is a day set aside to promote a love of books and reading, amongst our children. It is the kind of special day at St Mary’s that the children always remember. We challenged the children to create a ‘Book in a Box’. They had to create a world from their favourite books, all within a standard cardboard box. It is no mean feat to recreate Alice’s Wonderland in a cereal box, but some children did it! We had Hogwarts, Narnia and the Land of Oz, amongst so many others. But no World book day is complete without dressing up as our favourite book characters! There were wizards, witches, superheroes and a whole menagerie of animals – including some rather strange-looking dalmatians and a rather scary Cruella Deville. Take a look at our school website (bradfordabbasprimary.co.uk) to see the amazing photos from this year’s World Book Day.
Many blessings to you all from the staff and children of St Mary’s.
Graham Simpson (Deputy Head Teacher)
Bradford Abbas History Society
The next Bradford Abbas History Society meeting will be on either:
Tuesday afternoon 26th April at 2.30pm or Thursday evening 28th April at 7.30pm, both in the Village Hall. The Talk will be on "Notable residents and associates with Bradford Abbas".
Subscriptions are £10 per year or £2 per meeting.
Watch this space for details about upcoming historical tours of the village, taking place over the summer months.
Rose and Crown, Bradford Abbas
A very warm welcome awaits you all from Sarah and Jess, the new Landlady and Landlord at The Rose & Crown.
A fresh new delicious menu will be available from 23rd March and our carveries will begin on 27th March for Mother's Day, We also have food offers during the month starting with fresh hand-battered fish of the day and chips for only £10 on Tuesday nights.
Our opening hours are 12-2.30 + 5-11pm Monday to Saturday, 12-5pm on Sundays.
Food is available from 12-2.30 + 5-8.30pm Monday to Saturday and 12-4pm on Sundays.
For bookings, please call 07917 852986.
We look forward to meeting our new customers and neighbours. Why not pop in and say hello, we are a dog friendly venue.
Come join us on Saturday 2nd April for some live music performed by "Fiddleback" starting at 9pm.
We will also run a quiz once a month, next one on 23rd April at 9pm.
Please note, we are looking for a kitchen assistant aged 16 plus.
Bradford Abbas Parish Council
- The Annual Parish Meeting will take place on Tuesday 12th April 7:30pm in the St Mary’s Primary School Hall. Any member of the public electorate may raise for discussion a matter of local concern with the Parish Council.
- Please contact the Clerk if you have any interest taking part in the Neighbourhood Plan, a document written by the community that shapes the future of the village.
Parish Clerk: Tricia Chapman: bradfordabbaspc@hotmail.co.uk or 01935 473833. - The litter bins in the playing field are emptied by volunteers PLEASE DO NOT DISPOSE OF DOG WASTE in these bins, this includes the litter bin near the Westbury entrance gate.
- Did you know that Sherborne Good Neighbours covers Bradford Abbas? They offer the following friendly assistance to all in the community, of any age, who need and would welcome help: essential transport (45p per mile), occasional shopping, collecting prescriptions, taking garden waste for recycling, letter and form filling, reading to elderly or housebound, visiting those who would like company, occasional light jobs in home or garden and other similar needs. To ask for help ring Monica - 01935 813153, Fiona - 07989 238309, Margaret - 01935 817306, Eileen - 01935 817405 or Christine - 01935 815806 between 9am and 6pm. For more information go to: https://www.sherbornegoodneighbours.org/.
Monday Night Bingo
Every Monday at 6.45pm with eyes down at 7.15pm at Bradford Abbas Sports and Social Club.
Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club
- Tuesday 12 April: Joint meeting with Dorchester and Shaftesbury clubs – with cakes!!
- Saturday 23 April: Photographing in a Bluebell Wood near Sparkford, details nearer the time.
- Tuesday 26 April: ‘The Water’s Edge, a Celebration of The British Coast’ with Tony Worobiec. Tony is an enthusiastic speaker and outstanding teacher who brings his images and techniques to life.
- More information at sbaclub@yahoo.com.
Yeovil Railway Centre at Yeovil Junction
- Sunday 3 April: Steam Train Day with our newly restored red engine 0-4-0 “Pectin,” plus a Minion character
- Sunday 10 April: Model railway collectors Swapmeet (buy/sell/swap) runs 10.30 to 2.30
- Easter Sunday 17 and Monday 18 April: Easter Egg Hunt, Easter Bunny and Steam Train Day with Pectin.
- Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 April: Model Railway Weekend and Steam Train Days
- For further information see our website www.yeovilrailway.freeservers.com or our Facebook page.
Friendship Club
The Friendship Club meets on the first Tuesday afternoon of the month at 2pm in the Village Hall. There will be Bingo, a draw, Tea & Biscuits and a chance to buy Eva’s cakes and quiches from our trading table. Also, there is a chance to have a chat and laugh with fellow villagers. Everyone is more than welcome.
Reflexology & Healing
Many thanks to those volunteers in the village who helped me reach my quota of 100 feet for the reflexology course I am doing. A number of Bradford Abbas residents came forward to have free treatments and this has helped all of them, according to the feedback I have received. For the time being, I am going to charge £15 for an hour’s treatment until I qualify in June, which is vastly reduced from the £25 full price.
Julie Goldman, tel 07485 587049, email reflexology.faith@gmail.com
St.Mary’s Church, Bradford Abbas
Services in April
We have the following services in Bradford Abbas this month, EVERYBODY IS WELCOME:
SUNDAY 3RD APRIL 10am Holy Communion
SUNDAY 10TH APRIL 10am Holy Communion
SUNDAY 17TH APRIL (MOTHERNG SUNDAY) 9:30am Holy Communion
On weekends when we are without a service in Bradford Abbas, we encourage villagers to join a service at one of our neighbouring churches. These are posted on the notice boards outside the church.
The church’s annual meeting of parishioners (the “APCM”) takes place on Sunday 24th April at 6pm in the church. Even if you are only an occasional visitor to the church, please do come along and have a say in how it is run.
There are two musical events coming up which you might be interested in:
Sat 23rd April COME AND SING - A scratch choir will come together to practise a varied programme during the day, followed by a performance in the evening. If you would like to sing, please pick up a leaflet from the church. If you would like to be part of the audience, look out for ticket announcements
Sat 7th May evening ABER VALLEY MALE VOICE CHOIR is performing in the church. Again, look out for announcements for tickets.
Clergy Letter - There is an old saying, “Never give up”…
As I write this letter for the magazine, my thoughts wandered towards retirement. I would imagine that most folk already know that Liz and I are due to retire from 25th June. We will be leaving our lovely home here in Holwell and moving to East Chinnock in Somerset to be nearer to our family.
My mind also wandered on to thinking about Lent and wondering what I should sacrifice as part of the “forty days and forty nights”? I suddenly realised that these two things were intrinsically linked. There were two words that very easily linked the two thoughts together, and those words are ‘giving up’. We need to ‘give up’ something for Lent or do something more!
Liz and I are also thinking of what ‘giving up’ parish ministry will mean and what the Good Lord is leading us towards now. I am not intending to ‘give up’ everything, as I am to retain my work in chaplaincy, particularly across at Salisbury Livestock Mart. Liz also has thoughts about ‘giving up’ working at Yetminster Health Centre. This is a role that she has enjoyed immensely over the last six years or so, being in and part of that community. We will both be ‘giving up’ several things.
Equally, the news over the last few weeks has also highlighted the words ‘give up’. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Ukraine, probably giving up for ever, homes and lives that they have loved and been part of for years. Much as I hate to admit it, many folks in Ukraine have ‘given up’ their lives for a country in which they believe. Please hold them and the whole situation in your prayers from now on.
This will be the last piece that I write for the magazine. Liz and I would like to thank you most sincerely for your love and prayers that you have given us during our time here. They have been appreciated hugely. We, in turn, continue to pray for you all, hold you in our hearts. So, it is farewell for now, but perhaps knowing us as you do, we haven’t really ‘given up’, well not totally anyway!
Vicar Richard & Liz
Rogation Service and Blessing of Farm
Sunday 22 May, 11.00 am at Westhayes Farm, Caundle Marsh. DT9 5JT
This will be Richard’s last Service before he retires in June. It will be a Rogation Service and short Communion Service which will take place in a new building on the farm.
The Preacher at the Service will be the Ven. Andrew Hillier RN, Archdeacon of the Royal Navy and Chaplain to The Fleet. Not only is Andrew well known in the Benefice, but he is a very good friend to Richard, as they were Curates together in Castle Cary.
After the Service there will be a Bring & Share lunch. If you would like to, please bring a plate of food to share. PLEASE NOTE – FINGER FOOD ONLY, AS THERE WILL NOT BE CUTLERY AVAILABLE.
It would be really good to see everyone there to join in saying goodbye to Richard and Liz as they leave our benefice.