Telephone Box Update
We hope that you have enjoyed the books, DVDs, puzzles and games over the last few weeks. Thank you for your contributions. We appealed for books for children and received a wonderful selection in super condition, all of which went very quickly and we would now welcome more. We also have a need for books for teenagers. They tell us that they would like James Bond or similar. Thank you also for the seeds and plants that you left by the telephone box over Easter. These were very popular.
You may have seen some of the team trundling wheelbarrows full of compost (kindly donated) down to the new troughs. Thanks to some generous residents and to the Parish Council we have been able to install these. As we approach summer, we would be grateful for donations of suitable plants, eg bedding plants, trailing plants, fuchsias etc. etc. and especially geraniums of any kind for the troughs and to replace the beautiful daffodils. Thank you. Please leave a note of any offers through the door of Gardeners Cottage (next to the phone box) or phone 01935 706419.
You may have noticed that work has started on clearing and re-planting other areas e.g. by the playing field at the top of Churchwell Street. If you have any spare plants or cuttings suitable for areas such as these we would be delighted to accept them, and if you could help that would be even better!
Open Gardens Event, Sunday 4th July:
We hope to hold an open gardens event for the residents of Bradford Abbas, their relatives and friends. We would like to encourage people who enjoy their gardens and gardening to open their gardens for others to share and enjoy. We need a wide variety of gardens, tiny, large, wild meadow, modern, old. We are not looking for immaculate gardens, just loved and interesting gardens that other people would enjoy seeing.
All people visiting the gardens will be asked to sign in for security reasons and to provide an address and telephone number and to pay a small entrance fee which will go towards new playing field equipment for our children. If you feel you could open your garden please put a note through Gardeners Cottage or phone 01935 706419. At present about 10 people have already offered to open their gardens.
Thank you for all your continuing support. We hope that the children enjoyed finding the Easter eggs!!!
The Telephone Box Team.
Bradford Abbas Parish Council News
Parish Council Meetings hope to resume in the Village Hall on 6th July for the Annual Parish Meeting beginning at 7:30pm. The meetings will reflect the governmentâs guidance at the time. The agenda will be available nearer the time.
Many, many thanks to the Telephone Box Working Group for all their tireless work brightening up Churchwell Street. The planters outside the telephone box library look wonderful.
The Post Office is open on Tuesday afternoons only, 13.00-15.00.
Works in our area between 12th May and 1st June: Back Lane, Cross Road, Westbury, Queens Road, Bishops Lane and Church Road will receive surface dressing. The working times will between 7.00am and 5.00pm; work will not take place at night or over the weekend. A narrower window will be advised two weeks prior to when work is due to start through a public notice email to the Clerk, and noticeboards will be placed on the site two days in advance. The works notice will be on the Parish Council Website (bradford-abbas.uk) and the noticeboards.
Bradford Abbas Parish Clerk
The Heritage Fund of St Maryâs Church AGM
19th May 2021, 8.00pm At the centre of our village stands the lovely old parish church, its tower a landmark for miles around. The church belongs to everyone in the village and so many we know have been baptised or married there, or lie in the churchyard.
Villagers have always been generous in contributing to keep this much- loved building standing, and the Heritage Fund was founded 25 years ago, for exactly this purpose, to help ensure that St Mary's will be here for future generations. This is a fund simply for the building itself.
We now, however, need more members to keep things going. All it costs is an annual subscription, or single donation, however small, to the fund.
If you would like to join the work of preserving this village landmark, an essential part of keeping the village alive, please join us for the Zoom AGM on 19th May at 8.00pm. Please contact Adam, Secretary, at cathadam1@talktalk.net for an invitation, or to make a donation.
Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club
Tuesday 11th May: âBest of Yearâ competition with an external judge by Zoom.
Tuesday 25th May: Outdoor photo shoot: venue to be decided.
Wednesday 26th May: A further collaboration with Wincanton Camera Club; this is a talk by Paul Mitchell who specialises in woodland photography, a difficult subject at best. Paul will give us an insight into his techniques. Meeting again by Zoom.
Please see our website sbacameraclub.co.uk for further information.
Yeovil Railway Centre at Yeovil Junction
We have received âGood to Goâ certification in recognition that we have followed Government and Industry Covid 19 guidelines, ensuring processes are in place to maintain cleanliness and aid social and physical distancing.
Sunday 23rd May: Steam Train Day with Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 steam engine Lord Fisher. Chocolate Day with Easter Bunny making a belated appearance!
Other event days will be announced when there is more certainty.
Further information at www.yeovilrailway.freeservers.com and on our Facebook page.
The Rose and Crown
For the latest opening hours, please see the pubâs website:
http://roseandcrownbradfordabbas.weebly.com/
Or phone 01935 474506
Keep safe, Mary and the staff at the pub.
St. Maryâs Church
Dear Friends
We are now moving out of lockdown and our churches are beginning to open up to welcome us back. However, there is concern in the higher church circles that after so long a pause some people simply will not return. That being the case I thought that I would rehash something I wrote several years ago about why we go to church as there are many misconceptions to put right.
For instance, some say people go to church to earn a place in heaven â They wonât. Heaven is not earned.
Or that people who go to church are hypocrites claiming to be better than everyone else when in fact they are not. â They donât, and know they arenât. Actually, most church goers recognise that they have failings and donât pretend otherwise - That is why they are there.
Or people feel they should be entertained â While itâs nice to enjoy what you do thatâs not the point. The point is to value God. We are not worshipping to be entertained but to sacrifice a bit of our time to God in thanks for what happened at Easter.
Or sometimes people want to feel connected with their past â Partly right but generally a distortion of the Christian faith.
Ideas do change; in Regency times people went to Church as one of the few opportunities to meet people of the opposite sex. Not quite what the Church Fathers had in mind, Iâm sure!!
Jesus did not invent collective worship. The Jews of his day had a well-established routine of meeting regularly together to hear the Scripture read and to say prayers. Jesus added to that meeting together, the breaking of bread and the sharing of wine and he commanded us to continue - so we do.
Tony Gilbert
Team Rector
St. Maryâs Church Services:
Sunday 2nd May 10.00am â Holy Communion
Sunday 16th May 10.00am â Holy Communion
There will also be online services taking place during May; please go to www.threevalleysteam.org or to the Three Valleys Facebook page for further details. You can also contact the Team by phone: 01935 872600.