Edition 575 December 2024/January 2025
Printed courtesy of Mrs Annette Haynes as a service to the community
Please email your entries for the February 2025 issue to: ThePennant@mail.com by 21st January 2025
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all villagers!
Telephone Box Team
A HUGE Thank You to all our residents for their wonderful support over the year. We wish you all a very Happy Christmas with your families and friends and a peaceful and enjoyable New Year.
From the Telephone Box Team
Christmas Pop-Up Market
Come and share some festive cheer with your local artisan traders, on Saturday 14th December, 10.30 until 12.30 in the Village Hall. As always, there will be a variety of interesting local stalls, food and crafts and Dave the knife sharpener will be with us too. The WI will be serving mince pies and hot drinks and there will be a prize draw to win a Mary Berry recipe 23cm Christmas cake. If you would like to have a table please email me julieswinnerton@hotmail.co.uk. Thank you, Julie
Christmas Post Box
The Christmas post box will be in the Church from 4th of December until the last collection at 2.00. p.m. on 18th of December. As before, the service is free, but should you wish to make a donation, please place it in the Fabric Fund box, just inside the Church door. If you are able to help with delivery of the cards please contact Sue tel: 471901 or by email: gully.susan@yahoo.co.uk. We always need volunteers, any help you can offer is appreciated.
Decorating the Church
We will be decorating the church on Friday 13th December from 9.30am any help would be very welcome, also foliage on Thursday ready for an early start on Friday this is prior to our Carol Service on Sunday 15th @ 6.00pm.
Bradford Abbas WI
Bradford Abbas W I Crafts and Arts Section has been invited by Hansons Fabrics in Sturminster Newton, Dorset to showcase and sell their crafts on 7th December. The theme for the day is STEAMPUNK and the public is invited to come to the event dressed in steampunk fashion. There will be a competition and prizes will be awarded. For more information please contact Hansons Fabrics at : 01258 472698 or email -
Office.hansons@gmail.com.
St Mary’s Community Trust
UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday 6th December 7:30 start – CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING
In the BA Village Hall. We will supply everything you need to make a Christmas Wreath for your front door (or anywhere else). You will also have the option to make a natural twig window instead of a wreath. Bringing your secateurs from home might be a good idea. We will ply you with Prosecco (or other drinks) and
force feed you a variety of yummy puddings. Price £25 per person. We’ll need payment to reserve places. You can email us on StMarysCommunityTrust@gmail.com OR call or text Gary on 07799 430400 to book.
Christmas Eve – Tuesday 24th December 5:30pm – OUTDOOR CAROL SERVICE
We will again be staging the perfect start to your Christmas. Come and enjoy singing along to your favourite Christmas carols. Church Road will be closed to traffic and the carol lyrics will be projected onto the wall of the church tower. Dress up warm and kick off your Christmas with a glow inside.
Saturday 25th January – WASSAILING
Gather at the church from 6pm. Bring wellies or other boots and dress up warm. Bring a lantern or torch and something to make a noise with. At about 6:30 we will process cross country to Mill Farm to bless the apple trees and the 2025 harvest whilst making lots of noise. Then walk back to the village, put our clean shoes on and continue with our wassailing in the pub. Some people might even sing! People old and young are welcome and it will be a lot of fun.
Christmas Raffle
We will be running a Christmas Raffle this year with cash prizes to cheer up some lucky winners’ Christmas. Any profits made by this raffle will be given into the church’s fund-raiser for a new heating system. We plan to post tickets into every letter box in the village end November / early December. Please look out for them. Winning tickets will be drawn at the Outdoor Carol Service on Christmas Eve.
See you soon, Jo, Alan, Rob, Ruth, Trevor and Gary, The ST MARY’S COMMUNITY TRUST team
St. Mary’s Church, Bradford Abbas
HAPPY CHRISTMAS – At this most special time of the year, we’d like to wish a Happy Christmas and a healthy, peaceful new year to all readers of the Pennant. We want to make this church the warm heart of our community. Come and join us and make it so.
CHURCH HEATING – As most readers of the Pennant now know, we are trying to raise £50,000 to install a modern heating system into the church. There was a flyer about this in the October Pennant. If you have lost yours, please email us at BradfordAbbasChurch@gmail.com and we will send you a new copy. We have “spare change” jars available in church for an easy way for you to join in the fund-raising efforts. Perhaps pop in on Saturday morning to collect a jar and someone will be able to talk you through how it works. Any contribution you might be able to make or any help you can offer in other ways will be gratefully received.
UPCOMING SERVICES - EVERYBODY IS WELCOME
SUNDAY 1ST DECEMBER 10am Morning Worship (lay-led)
SUNDAY 15TH DECEMBER 6pm Carol Service with choir (led by David Dunning)
CHRISTMAS EVE 5:30pm Outdoor Carol Service (gather in Church Road – which will be closed to traffic)
CHRISTMAS DAY 10am Christmas Eucharist (led by Richard Kirlew)
SUNDAY 5TH JANUARY 10am Morning Worship (lay-led)
SUNDAY 19TH JANUARY 10am Holy Communion (led by David Dunning)
On Sundays when we are without a service here in Bradford Abbas, we encourage villagers to take in a service at one of our neighbouring churches. There is always a list of these on display in the church porch.
Bradford Abbas Variety Club
AGM took place on 2nd October as planned and Committee reviewed, following the resignation of Kerrie, as a result of her move and commitment to her new pub in Milborne Port. We owe a huge amount of thanks to Kerrie for all her hard work and commitment over the years to the Variety Show and hope she may be able to perform in future shows. We wish Kerrie all the best with her new venture. As Deputy Chair, Stuart Fleming will fill-in as Chair in the short term, whilst a permanent Chair is sourced – applications invited.
The 2025 Show has been booked for: Friday 28th and Saturday 29th March 2025
Both will be evening performances only, so please get your tickets asap once released, to avoid disappointment as numbers are limited in the Village Hall.
The Show can only go ahead with the goodwill of the community, so if you are interested in helping or performing, please get in touch with lou.silk@hotmail.com to share your skills and enthusiasm for the enjoyment and pleasure of your neighbours, friends and relatives. Alternatively, our first planning meeting will be on Wednesday 15th January 2025 at 1930hrs at the Sports & Social Club – everyone welcome.
From everyone at the Variety Club, we thank you for your continued support and wish you all a very Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2025.
Bradford Abbas History Society
We are still looking for nominations for the Chairmanship of the Society. Please contact Tony White, 01935 424441.
Music Social, 11th January 2025
What better way to beat the January blues than to join us for an evening of musical entertainment, with local singers and stand-up bingo! Saturday 11th January, 7pm in the Village Hall, £5 entry, bring your own food and refreshments, raffle prizes to be won. All proceeds will go to the Church Heating Project. Tickets available from mid-December from church members, or you can book a table by calling Alan Fall, 01935 425747.
Mixed Ability Yoga - Saturdays 8.30am-9.30am Bradford Abbas Village Hall
Come along and join us! These are friendly and fun classes, suitable for most. Start your weekend with movement and relaxation. £9 per session.
- December dates: 7th/14th/21st
- Yoga is back Saturday 4th January 2025 after the Christmas break.
https://www.facebook.com/Emma-Riley-Yoga-112642420645325
Yeovil Railway Centre
Wednesday 4th December: Main line steam, 35028 Clan Line with the Sherborne Carol Service train times to be advised.
Saturday 7th December: Breakfast (10am to noon) or Tea (3pm to 5pm) with Santa. Places strictly limited. Children come and have breakfast or tea and a chat with Santa, play some games and receive a small present. Children £10 each, Adults £5 each. Note there are NO train rides with this event.
Santa Specials are running on Sunday 1st, Sunday 8th, Saturday 14th, Sunday 15th, Sunday 22nd and Monday 23rd. Trains run from 10.12 to 3.20 with a break for lunch, however on Saturday 14th the trains run later, starting at 2.pm with the last train at 7.10. Tickets are £15 , pre booked. ‘On the Day ‘ tickets are £20 per person. Full details at yeovilrailway.freeservers.com.
The Friendship Club
Our next TWO meeting are on Tuesday afternoon 3rdDecember and 7th January 2025 (when Subs are due) at 2pm at Bradford Abbas Sports and Social Club. There is Bingo, a small draw, Tea & Biscuits and a chance to have a chat and laugh with fellow villagers. New members will be warmly welcomed. As mentioned before we always meet on the first Tuesday afternoon of the month.
Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club
Tuesday 10th December: Seasonal meeting/My Favourite Images of 2024. This is not a competition but celebrates the talent that exists within our club. Members may submit two digital images taken in the past year. The second half of the evening is a social gathering.
Tuesday 14th January: Shoot a theme competition this is ‘Homes, or parts of homes constructed by man or the animal kingdom’ . Members can submit 3 digital images, colour or black and white.
Tuesday 28th January: Critique evening of members photographs, any subject, each image critiqued by Alan Denison, a WCPF judge.
We meet at 7.30pm in the village hall, all welcome. sbacameraclub.co.uk
Monday Night Bingo
Every Monday at Bradford Abbas Sports and Social Club at 6.45pm with eyes down at 7.15pm. Everyone 18 and over is welcome to our weekly light-hearted evening which also includes a small draw a chance to win the SNOW BALL and of course a laugh and chat, we finish just before 9.00 pm.
There will be no Bingo on Monday 23 and 30 December. We will resume after Christmas on Monday 6 January 2025.
Liz Picton
Many of you will have heard the sad news that Liz Picton passed away recently. There will be a celebration of her life at St Mary’s Church on Monday 2nd December at 12 noon and afterwards at the Rose and Crown.
Bradford Abbas Parish Council
- Proposed solar farm at Wyke - Thank you to all those of you who attended the Parish Council meeting on 5th November, when RWE, the company behind the proposal to build a solar farm on Ilchester Estates’ land, gave a presentation on their updated plans. We understand that RWE will be submitting a planning application to Dorset Council towards the end of December 2024.
- East Farm Right of Way, DMMO T474 - The public Inquiry will be held on 10th December 2024 in Dorchester. For further details, please phone Vanessa Penny, Definitive Map Manager, Telephone Number: (01305) 224719.
- Mobile connectivity consultation currently taking place regarding poor mobile phone reception in villages. We would like to hear from you if you are experiencing difficulties in obtaining a phone signal. Please email the Parish Council Clerk at bradfordabbas@dorset-aptc.gov.uk.
- Tidy- up January – before the bird-nesting season begins, we would like to encourage villagers to give their road-side hedges and verges a good trim and clear any litter. Let’s keep our village tidy!
- Mud on Roads - The Parish Council has contacted the police about the large amount of mud experienced by drivers recently on roads surrounding the village. This is not only extremely dangerous but also the new road surfaces are being destroyed by the very large tractors. The P C has written to Velcourt, Ilchester Estates and Dorset Council regarding these concerns and to raise the issue of runoff from the fields into the village during heavy rain. These issues were again discussed at the latest P C meeting and a meeting with Velcourt is to be arranged.
- Road closure – Please note, North Street will be closed 21st-24th January due to water works taking place.