Edition 560 August 2023
Printed courtesy of Mrs Annette Haynes as a service to the community
Please email your entries for the September 2023 issue to: ThePennant@mail.com by 21st August 2023
St. Mary’s Community Trust
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Saturday 9th September 3pm to 9pm - The Church That Rocks 2. Plans are well under way now for your favourite outdoor music event of the year. Our headliners are a Madness tribute band! So pull on your Baggy Trousers, take One Step Beyond your front doors and come along to Our House. Make sure it’s in your diary.
- Saturday 7th October 9am to 12 noon – The Big Harvest Breakfast. in the church
- Friday 8th December – Wreath-making evening in the Village Hall, with Prosecco and puddings.
- Sunday 24th December 5:30pm – Outdoor Carol Service in front of the church.
See you soon.
Jo, Alan, Rob, Ruth, Trevor and Gary
The ST MARY’S COMMUNITY TRUST team
Bradford Abbas Sports and Social Club
Lots happening at the club throughout the Summer months. Also , we have a great beer garden!
Mondays : 7pm onwards , Bingo , Boule , snooker and pool .
Wednesdays 7pm onwards , Boule , Cycling , Snooker , pool , summer skittles and bread rolls .
Thursdays and Fridays : all of the above but presently no bread rolls!
Sundays : 2.30 to 6pm. Great family afternoon. All of the above facilities.
Also Noor Farm meat produce being sold on the second Sunday of the month.
Happy Hour from 3pm to 5pm.
Our friends from THE ABER VALLEY MALE VOICE CHOIR are joining us for a social evening on Saturday 12 August from approximately 6pm. The boys are returning from an afternoon concert at Sturminster Newton. BBQ available during the evening.
Everyone welcome. Alan Fall , Secretary.
Bradford Abbas Petanque Group
Petanque at the Sports and Recreation Ground.
Petanque or Boule is a great game for all skill levels and ages. It is also a sociable, fun game that is a gentle exercise as well.
What is going on in August?
Regular games will be on Tuesday 2.00 pm and Wednesdays 11.00 am.
‘Have a go’ Sunday in the 6th at 2.30 pm.
Pub and Piste on Saturday 19th.
You will be warmly welcomed at any of the games.
Looking forward to seeing you there. Zoe, 07743277656
A Message to Dog Walkers
Thank you for picking up after your dogs when walking the footpaths...but will you please take the bags home to dispose of rather than hanging them on a barbed wire fence for someone else to deal with...
Thankyou...
Jack and Wendy, Huish Farm
Pop-up Market
A huge thank you to everyone who's supported the pop-up monthly market since we started back in February. We generally have about 4 to 8 stalls, including local meat, jams, chutneys and honey, cards and gifts, and cakes. In August we have the knife sharpener and Bodyshop.
The next dates are:
19 August, 16 September, 21 October, 18 November, 16 December
We run from 11am until 1 pm, in the village hall. Why not have a coffee and a natter in the church first?
If you'd like to have a stall or have any questions, please contact me on 07805605887.
Mixed Ability Yoga
Saturday morning yoga continues throughout summer at Bradford Abbas Village Hall on Saturday mornings from 9.15am--10.15am. So come along and join us! These are friendly and fun classes, suitable for most. Start your weekend with movement and relaxation. £8.50 per session.
August dates - 5th / 19th / 26th
For more information email emmarileyyoga@gmail.com, message on facebook @emmarileyyoga or call/text 07884246550.
Bradford Abbas Camera Club
We are on our summer break, but if you would like a sneak preview of the 2023-24 programme visit our web site www.sbacameraclub.co.uk and click on Meetings. It looks an interesting programme.
Bradford Abbas Women’s Institute
There will be no meetings in August but we will be back in September.
The Rose and Crown, Bradford Abbas
Opening hours:
- Monday CLOSED;
- Tuesday 5 - Close (Drinks Only)
- Wednesday 12-3 & 5-close (Drinks), 12-2 & 6-9 (Food)
- Thursday 12-3 & 5-close (Drinks), 12-2 & 6-9 (Food)
- Friday 12 - close (Drinks), 12-2 & 6-9 (Food)
- Saturday 12 - close (Drinks), 12-2 & 6-9 (Food)
- Sunday 12 - 6 (Drinks), 12-4 (Food)
The Friendship Club
After our Mini bus outing last month we are now back again for our meeting on the 5th September on Tuesday at 2.00 pm at Bradford Abbas Sports and Social Club. There is Bingo, a small draw, Tea and Biscuits and a chance to have a chat and laugh with fellow villagers. New members will be warmly welcome.
Monday Night Bingo
Every Monday at 6.45 pm with eyes down at 7.15 pm at Bradford Abbas Sports and Social Club. Everyone 18 and over are 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.
Bradford Abbas and Clifton Maybank Village Hall
In order to book the village hall please go to the Parish Council website (https://bradford-abbas.uk/hall) to see if the hall is available and how to book, alternatively please email bacmvh@gmail.com or ring the Booking Secretary (Tricia Chapman) on 01935 602279. Please note the new telephone number.
Bradford Abbas History Society
Our September meetings on either the 26th September Tuesday afternoon at 2.30 pm or 28th September Thursday evening at 7.30 pm will be in the Village Hall with a fascinating presentation by Ted Udall on “YEOVIL MEMORY JOGGER” with photographs and short films of Yeovil from the 1960s/70s.
Yeovil Railway Centre at Yeovil Junction
- On Tuesdays 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th August there will be a Diesel Train Day with the first train at 11o’clock regularly (except for a lunch break) until final at 2.40.
- Adults £6, children 5 – 15 £3 (one admitted free per paying adult. Children 0 – 4 free
- Steam Train Days using our Peckett 0-4-0 Pectin will be held on Sundays 8th, and on 20th there will also be an invitation to come along dressed in a Steam Punk outfit, or something Classic or Vintage
- Trains at 11am and then every 20 minutes until 12.20, lunch break for crew and engine, then resuming at 1.50pm, last train at 3.30pm. Turntable demonstrations at 12.40 and 2.30pm. See the web site or facebook for full details.
St. Mary’s Church, Bradford Abbas
RECENT EVENTS
FRIDAY 14TH JULY – BASTILLE DAY BASH
Thanks to everyone who came along to support our marvellous soirée française. Due to high winds and rain, we switched venue at the last minute to go inside the church. Special thanks are due to Lucy and Brian Lock for the initial inspiration and for donating the wine and food, to Ros and Richard Williams for agreeing to make their garden available before the weather intervened and to the army of volunteers who helped it all come together.
SATURDAY 15TH JULY – CREAM TEA
Thanks are also due to the SMCT team who pulled off another enjoyable reason to spend time in our beautiful old church.
ST MARY’S CHURCHYARD
Lots of people have offered opinions about the churchyard this year, especially when they noticed it looking scruffy or untidy. There is now a group of people coming together who would like to make it a more beautiful place to spend time and a better tribute to those who have their final resting place there, whilst allowing for diverse habitats where wild flowers and insects can thrive. If you might be someone who could
help in this endeavour with the odd hour or two of your time, or with a bit of cash to help pay others to do the work, or if you are simply interested in finding out about and having a say in the future of the churchyard, then please come along to an open meeting we are holding in September.
FRIENDS OF THE CHURCHYARD meeting, WEDNESDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2023 at 7:30PM in the VILLAGE HALL. You will find out about the current situation and the costs involved in looking after the churchyard and you will have the chance to air your opinions about the possible ways forward.
SERVICES IN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER - EVERYBODY IS WELCOME.
SUNDAY 6TH AUGUST 10am Welcome to Worship (lay-led)
SUNDAY 20TH AUGUST 10am Holy Communion (led by Tony Gilbert)
SUNDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER 10am Welcome to Worship (lay-led)
SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER 10am Holy Communion (led by David Dunning)
On weekends when we are without a service in Bradford Abbas, we encourage villagers to join a service at Thornford or Beer Hackett. Details are posted on the notice boards outside the church. You may also be interested in two Taizé Services which are happening in Yetminster church on 20th August and 17th September (both starting at 6pm).
£1.25 Is All It Takes.
The Church Needs Help. The Church of England like many people and institutions today is in trouble. It needs your prayers, and it needs your physical help.
The Church’s mission in the Biblical tradition is dedicated to keeping a Christian presence in every community and to giving aid and support to all who call upon it. This we try to do without regard to race, creed, sexual orientation, circumstance or indeed any of the many facets of human life that can divide us. It does not require anything in return from those being helped – no declaration of allegiance, no payment, no payback. As an example of that you can find in many churches in this benefice a larder either in the church or in the church porch from which anyone may take food as they may require it.
However, to accomplish its mission, the church needs money. That money is used in all sorts of ways but one of them is to keep clergy in the villages working so that the church can carry on, not just with the examples above but also, running Church Services for all comers (no one is ever turned away from our services), Marrying, Baptising, burying our dead, visiting the sick and teaching in our schools.
To pay for all this the church in this diocese has something called a ‘Share’ where people are asked to share in the costs.
Since Covid the church has not been able to return to levels of giving pre-Covid. One of the natural consequences of that is that sooner or later the church will not be able to pay for or house clergy in our villages and the churches will cease to function in the way they were intended to. In some dioceses that problem has become very acute and huge restructuring is being implemented.
Our Deanery Treasurer calculated that if every household in this Benefice paid £1.25 per week the problem would go away. £1.25 – less than a cup of coffee in Costa to save the church.
Can you help? I pray that you can.
Tony Gilbert
Team Rector