The Pennant June 2021

Bradford Abbas Sports and Social Club

Party in the Park on Saturday 3rd July, 6pm till late. Everyone welcome! Bring your friends and family. Free entry to all. 

Live music from local band Shockwave and more. BBQ available or bring your own picnic; all drinks to be purchased from the bar.

Emma Parsons, Entertainment Committee

Bradford Abbas Parish Council News

The Annual Parish Meeting will be held in the Village Hall on the 6th July at 7:30pm. We look forward seeing residents of the village face to face!
 

The Post Office is open on Tuesday afternoons from 13:00 to 15:00.

Gollups Ground: I wish to report on behalf of the Parish Council concerning the fence erected along the footpath in Gollups Ground that the Parish Council are in discussions with the landowner regarding this issue and I will keep you updated.

Tricia Chapman, Parish Clerk: bradfordabbaspc@hotmail.co.uk

The Rose and Crown

We are now open indoors again at the following times:

• Thursdays and Fridays 12 until 2.30pm, food served from 12 until 1.45pm, and evenings 5.30pm until 11pm, food served 6pm until 8.30pm.

• Saturdays open 12noon until 11pm, food served 12 until 1.45pm and 6pm until 8 30pm.

All tables must be pre- booked as social distancing is still the rule. Please phone 01935 474506 to book as the website is not reliable at the moment.  Facemasks must be worn on entry until seated at your table.

I would like to thank all those people that have supported us through lockdown - we would not have survived without your support.

Hopefully see you soon, from Mary and all the staff at The Rose and Crown.

Bradford Abbas Open Gardens Day

The Open Gardens Day will take place on Sunday 4th July 2021, 12 noon until 4pm and is for families and friends of residents of Bradford Abbas.

At present we have 14+ gardens from throughout the village which will be open, plus some allotments. If you would like to open your garden just let us know by phoning 01935 706419.

You will be asked to sign in outside the War Memorial and pay a £2 entrance fee (in aid of the B.A. playground equipment replacement fund) and children will be free. You will receive a badge to wear and a map, which will identify the gardens open. These will also be identified by balloons outside the property. Some gardens will be providing tea. Toilets will be open in the Village Hall.

So do come along and enjoy a summer afternoon in the lovely gardens of Bradford Abbas. Everyone will be very welcome.

Telephone Box News

The new trough is in place and awaiting planting. Work has started at the top of Churchwell Street, by the entrance to the playing field. Thanks are due for a generous donation from a resident of Bradford Abbas allowing for this area to be re-planted.

During June the Telephone Box will focus on crime/thriller books. Look out for some exciting titles and, of course, we would love to receive more crime books which you can leave in the Telephone Box.

To coincide with the Open Gardens event, we would love to receive gardening/plant/ flower books. Again, please leave them in the Telephone Box.

The school will be making some more window acetates with a garden theme, so do come and look at them. And how about a hanging basket competition throughout the village? Just let us know that you have a basket outside your house and wish to enter the competition by phoning 01935 706419 – you may win a prize!

If you have any spare plants we would love to receive them.

Thank you for your encouragement…. We hope that you’ll enjoy our upcoming events.

The Telephone Box Team

Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club

After a very successful and interesting programme of zoom meetings, including speakers from around the world which would not have been possible otherwise, we now take a break.  Photoshoots are being planned for the summer months before resuming the 2021/22 programme in September.  The bluebell photoshoot was rained off, but “48 Hours to Protect Portland Bill” will take place regardless of weather conditions and is an event open to all. It takes place over the weekend of 12th and 13th June. For further information see Protect Portland Bill on Facebook, or on Twitter @protect_bill or email  sara_harpley@hotmail.com.

Our meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesday in the month, starting at 7.30pm.  Whether we will return to the village hall, or continue on zoom depends on the latest Covid regulations.

Please see our website  sbacameraclub.co.uk  for further information.

Yeovil Railway Centre at Yeovil Junction

Events for June are under consideration and will be announced when there is more certainty over Covid regulations.  In the meantime, Pectin’s boiler has at last returned from the boilersmith after a very long absence.  Once reassembly is completed and everything tested normal running can resume.  It’s great to see this historic locomotive built in 1921 coming alive again. If you live locally listen out for its whistle!

Further information at  www.yeovilrailway.freeservers.com and on our Facebook page.

Bradford Abbas Community Land Trust

With the lockdown starting to ease we can begin to think about moving froward with our activities which are primarily to investigate providing affordable housing for local families. The first stage of this process will be a Housing Needs Survey which Dorset Council will analyse for us to see if there is a need for such housing in the village. Based on this information we can start to put together a project to provide said housing.

Completion of this survey is very important since without this information we cannot proceed so I hope you will all take part. The survey form and support processes are nearing completion and we will be letting you know when it is available. Look out for this. In the meantime, the best way you can support the process is to join the CLT by contacting me at dicklynnebennett@gmail.com or on 01935 474306. This gives you a say in the way forward.

Dick Bennett, Chairman – Bradford Abbas Community Land Trust.

Web site https://www.baclt.org.uk

Village Shop – A Message from Wendy and Alan

Wendy and Alan would like to say a massive thank you to all the amazing people we have met during our three years in the village and especially those incredible people who gave up their own time to help keep the shop alive and open. Thank you to all our customers who became part of our lives and who we will very much miss. Finally, a massive heartfelt thank you for all the lovely cards and messages, beautiful flowers and kind thoughts that we can take with us.

So, thank you Bradford Abbas, we wish you all health and happiness for the future. Alan and Wendy

St.Mary’s Church

I've been a-visiting. It is not something I have been able to do for a long time, so it is a treat to be back to wandering around Dorset and dropping in on people. It is an essential part of being a country vicar and I have missed it, so it is nice to be back. And it has reminded me of some things. It has reminded me of what a privilege it is to live in such a beautiful part of the world. The gently rolling hills of Dorset look grand clothed with lush spring growth and a carpet of spring flowers. Every turn a new vista, every glance a new surprise. Bluebells poking out from beneath the trees. The smell of wild garlic creeping in through the open window. Even the enforced slowness of travel is a gift. You cannot rush Dorset roads, so you have time to acknowledge those who wait for you and wave thanks to those who let you through. It has also reminded me of how welcoming Dorset folk are.

 

Of course, some are too busy to stop and chat. As I tend to stop on the off chance, only calling ahead if I know I have to check, it is not surprising if I catch someone mid phone call and are gently asked to pop back later. I never mind. It's the human contact that matters not the length of the conversation. Many seem to be happy to catch a moment to natter, a breather from a busy day, a chance to catch up after so many months of enforced isolation. For me it is always a privilege to be welcomed, one of the great privileges of being a country vicar.

 

And what do I do between stops? Well, I catch up with my Bible in One Year podcast. I offer to God the countryside and its residents. I listen to one of my favourite radio 4 comedy programmes. Or I just enjoy the experience of being a little bit more normal. Not the new normal that we hear so much about, but the old normal. The one where neighbourliness is natural and easy, where prayer is simply a part of being alive, where love from God and love from friends mingles so that you can hardly tell the difference.

 

I started our worship last Sunday - Second Sunday in St Andrew's School - with this Bible verse: 'People of Israel, return to the Lord...that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped'. As I wander around I feel a little bit like an escapee, remembering with sorrow those left behind, but glad to be out and able to return to the Lord - to gather, to visit, to pray, to worship - and very grateful for God's promise that as I return to the Lord, the Lord will return to me. 

 The Reverend George Moody

St. Mary’s Church Services:

Please check the Church’s notice board for details of services in June, or go to www.threevalleysteam.org. You can also contact the Team by phone: 01935 872600.

“Ultrafast” or “Ultraslow” Broadband?

“Ultraslow”

MP Chris Loder writes to ask us to complete his survey if your connectivity is particularly poor:

“Two weeks ago, the Government confirmed Dorset’s inclusion in the £5 billion Project Gigabit broadband programme, which I lobbied hard for. We also have several Community Fibre Partnerships (CFPs) active in West Dorset and I have been working closely with Openreach on these.

As I continue my campaign to get good broadband connectivity across West Dorset, I need to collate the specific details of where connectivity is particularly poor. I have created a survey on my website for this purpose: www.chrisloder.co.uk/broadbandsurvey. “

 

Bradford Abbas Ultrafast Community Project

Following on from Chris Loder’s message above, the UK government has extended its offer to pay Openreach to connect our premises to the internet by fibre optic cable. As of May 2021, 90% of the target has been achieved so we need to have a few more people to pledge their vouchers so that they can go from a typical 20 Mbps now, to a possible 900 Mbps!

• It doesn’t cost anything to pledge at https://www.openreach.com/connect-my-community

• Your pledge attracts £1,500 (or £3,500 for a business) of government money paid to Openreach. 

• Should the Bradford Abbas Ultrafast Community Project meet its target, people making the pledge are expected to connect to the internet via service providers like BT, Sky, EE, etc.

We’re almost but not quite there yet! Openreach needs just a few more of us to sign up. 

 

There’s more detailed information at https://bradford-abbas.uk/jan-ultra-status