Bradford Abbas Allotment Holders
We are at the start of a new year for the Allotment Holders Association which we hope will soon get a bit dryer! The members have found their plots a real godsend during the various lockdowns and restrictions since they were acceptable places to go outside the home. They certainly helped to maintain sanity as well as avoiding some food shopping.
We have a small number of plots available for the coming year if anyone would be interested. Now is the time to make a start at the beginning of the growing season, so if you are interested in taking one on please contact Fred Theobald at fa.theobald@btopenworld.com, or on 01935 474775.
Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club
Tuesday 9th March: Workshop with theme to be decided. We will try to make the workshop practical and outside if social distancing needs to be maintained.
Wednesday 10th March: In a further collaboration with Wincanton Camera Club we will be joining them for an evening with Robert Harvey. Robert is a professional landscape, wildlife and night-sky photographer and holds the Excellence award of The Federation Internationale de l’Art Photographique. He is inspired by remote locations and a trip to his website will show what an excellent evening we can expect.
Tuesday 23rd March: Macro and closeup competition with external judging by Zoom.
Meetings are by Zoom, the 9th March meeting will depend on whether Lockdown is still in place, otherwise also on Zoom.
All meetings start at 7.30, further information from:- enquiries@sbacameraclub.co.uk
Yeovil Railway Centre at Yeovil Junction
There are no live events at the moment whilst we are under lockdown. That does not mean nothing is happening, behind the scenes there is a lot of planning for the future, and a long list of things to be done when we reopen. One piece of good news is that Pectin’s boiler has returned from the boilersmith, it will need a considerable amount of work before the engine can be put back into service.
Steam train rides at Easter?? Easter egg hunt??
Further information at www.yeovilrailway.freeservers.com and on our Facebook page.
The Rose and Crown
During the current lockdown we will continue to provide takeaways and lunch-time deliveries on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and for Sunday lunches. We are also doing large pizzas for £6 and all children’s meals are £5. All the food is freshly cooked to order.
Please order for lunch time before 10am, for evenings before 3pm and for SUNDAY lunch before Saturday lunch time. Keep safe and look to the future, from Mary and staff at the pub. Phone 01935 474506.
Telephone Box Update
Thank you to everyone who has kindly donated so many books and DVDS of which we now have a large stock and do not require any more at present, apart from books for children. Thanks to Valda Baker for providing us with space to store and sort our books. We exchange the stock on a regular basis. The books are very popular. Jigsaw puzzles and games have also proved to be very popular indeed, so please keep them coming!
By way of a change from books and puzzles, and with Spring well on its way, a seed exchange will be our next venture in the Telephone Kiosk. If you have any seeds to spare please could you place these, in an envelope with the name of the plant on the front, and leave them in the box provided. Thank you. These will be available on the shelves for people to take later in March.
As the season progresses, we hope to have a few seedlings, cuttings, etc., to share with others, so please do plant or propagate extra plants and seeds to help with this.
At the moment we are in the throes of sourcing a couple of large planters to enhance the street scene by the telephone kiosk, and once these are in place, we will be looking for suitable plants. So if you would like to grow some plants or contribute in any way please put your offer of help etc through the door of Gardener’s Cottage (next to the telephone box) addressed to the Parish Clerk.
Thank you for encouraging us.
The Telephone Box Team
Not included online: Image: One of our youngest readers enjoying the telephone box books
Bradford Abbas Village Store
We are still open, as we have been since 23rd March 2020 when we went into the first lockdown.
As you may be aware, Alan is not well with specific breathing and anxiety problems and Wendy is in a high-risk and stay-at-home category – all this should make carrying on very difficult! The fact that we are able to continue is down to the regular help and support we receive from our volunteers and we are very grateful to them for this.
Thank you for your continuing support. As well as our usual wide range of items and Daisy, who supplies delicious local milk, we have found that our special offers continue to fly off the shelves, for example, Jaffa cakes at two packs for ÂŁ1 and Green presse, currently on offer. We will always try to get the deal of all deals on a range of items!
We know how much you appreciate our service, and wanted to share with you this message from a grateful customer:
“Thank you, Alan and Wendy for staying open, even when you were finding it hard. Serving the village in these difficult days, in such a wonderful way is appreciated by so many and we do thank you for all that you do for us. Your village shop is one of the best I have ever used”.
With our best wishes and hopefully see you soon.
Alan and Wendy
Bradford Abbas Parish Council News
Be a part of Census 2021, 21st March 2021: The census is a ten-yearly survey that gives us the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales. It has been carried out every decade since 1801, with the exception of 1941. The census is vital to all of us. The data collected will help plan and fund services in the local area.
“A successful census will ensure everyone from local government to charities can put services and funding in the places where they are most needed,” says Philip Eades, the Census Engagement Manager for the area covered by Dorset Council.
If you need help to fill in your census form, visit www.census.gov.uk. If you are unable to get help online please ring the Parish Clerk for support, 01935 473833.
War Memorial - New Plaques: After extensive research completed by the Bradford Abbas History Society it appears 20 names were missing from the War Memorial. The Parish Council commissioned a stone mason to rectify this by adding plaques to the War Memorial with their names and rank (if known). A huge thank you to the St Mary's Week Charitable Trust for their donation toward the project. Please take a look next time you are walking around the village. The new plaques have the year "MMXX" on the bottom right corner.
Annual Parish Meeting: At the February Parish Council Meeting the Councillors made the decision to delay the Annual Parish Meeting until July with the hope it can be held in person. A final decision will be made nearer the time.
Please use the Parish Council Website: For latest news on what the Parish Council is doing on our behalf, why don’t you enter your email address in the “subscribe” box at https://bradford-abbas.uk. You won’t be bombarded with emails, but you’ll get to know when the Parish Council has something important to say.
Bradford Abbas Parish Clerk
St.Mary’s Church
Dear Friends
Seen on a church door:
This is the Gate of Heaven, enter ye by this door.
Below which was written - This door is kept locked because of the draught.
Sometimes unintended irony can say a lot about the church.
One of the things I find very difficult to do is to write these church paragraphs for the magazine and it is my turn again this month. It must be my Lenten Penance (except that I believe Lent is a time for preparation more than a time of sorrow). On the whole I am glad I do not have to do this article more than once every three months or so. I find it hard because we are writing these articles to a very wide spectrum of opinion and expectation. Some want a sermon that moves them, some expect a sermon that is irrelevant to your lives and are happy to be confirmed in that view, whilst some are just mildly interested in what we have to say but do not want anything too "heavy". Judging by the feedback I have received, strangely for this supposedly secular society, it appears that most people do read our articles and would miss them if they did not appear.
I think that the Christian message is largely misunderstood. Often people think it’s about rules and do's and don'ts but it’s not. It is about joy, happiness and the fact that everything can be made all right with God through his Son Jesus Christ (see Easter Story for more details). Every Church service should have the elements of a party about it. Evidence suggests that the Early Church services from about 80AD or so were really quite lively and far from modern conceptions of worship. In fact, the first disciples gave every appearance of being drunk after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and St Peter did not deny the possibility but simply countered the accusation by saying it was really too early in the morning.
People go to Church quite simply because God asks them to and because when they do, he puts something back into their lives which makes those lives better, stronger, easier, more fulfilling and happier.
Yours
Tony Gilbert
Church Services
Our local clergy have taken the difficult decision to suspend all church services during the current lockdown, but please check the church notice board for further updates.
Remember there are frequent online services; 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.