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Winter 2014 Edition No 31
Winter 2014
Dear Residents
Welcome to our new Parish Councillor, Jeremy Riley. We are pleased to have Jeremy join the council and he has already made his presence felt by volunteering with the playing field working party in November. We had three people apply for only one councillor vacancy which is a very good demonstration of community involvement and do hope such enthusiasm continues. Thank you to all the parishioners who applied to be a councillor and please do keep involved with the parish, even if you were not successful this time. In fact Chris Gardner has just tendered his resignation from the council so there is again a vacancy. Please look for the notices on the notice boards for details of how to apply.
Chris King and his Neighbourhood Development Plan group have been hard at work and plan to have a draft document ready for consultation early in the New Year. There has been a lot of effort put into the development of this plan so please, when it comes out for consultation take time to read it and comment. It is your opportunity to have a voice as to the future of your community. Once finalised it will become a statutory document that will form part of SDC’s planning document.
There was a very successful WW1 concert in St Paul’s church. The tickets were allocated within a matter of hours of becoming available and the church was filled to bursting. Standing room only remained. There is a link to listen to a review of the proceedings on the PC website.
You should soon be seeing two speed activated signs in the village. This is part of the 20 mph campaign and we hope that it continues to encourage safer driving through our parish.
Now well in to autumn we can (hopefully) expect some colder weather. We do have a parish snow warden and that is Councillor Chris Brian. He will keep in touch with Gloucestershire Highways if the weather becomes icy.
/cont
Parish Council News 3
Friends of Whiteshill School
4
WWI Concert Report 4
W & R Pumpkin Trail 2014 6
Whiteshill Playgroup 8
Christmas Quiz 9
Angela King, Village & Community Agent
10
St Paul’s Church news 11
Winter Community Safety tips
12
CAB—Pension changes 12
Classified Ads 14
Highlights Inside
Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Council’s aim is to make the parish a pleasant place to live
From the Parish Council Chairman
FRONT COVER: If you have any seasonal, high resolution photo-graphs of Whiteshill and Ruscombe for our front covers then please send them to Dilys Warren on [email protected] or to Helen Dunn on [email protected]. Our thanks go to Chris King for providing the cover photo for this edition.
Page 3 The WaRbler Par ish Counc i l
However, if you see a grit bin that needs refilling please do let us know. Highways are not always able to refill them as often as we would like but at least if they are aware this helps.
As a council we do take turns in check-ing the playing field to ensure things are as they should be, but if you see any-thing you think we ought to be aware of please do let us know.
Finally, the Council wish Happy Christ-mas to everyone and look forward to a safe and healthy new year.
Rebecca Charley, W&RPC
Chairman
Parish Council
Vacancy Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Council have a vacancy after the resignation of Chris Gardner. If there is no call for an election then co-option for a new Councillor will take place at the January meeting (8th January 2015)
The duties and pleasure, of being a local councillor are many and varied, howev-er it is the ordinary day to day contact with local people in their own commu-nity that is the most important part of being a councillor.
Councillors represent the voice of their community as a whole, whilst being aware of and considerate to, specific minority needs. If you would be inter-ested in being a Parish Councillor, please
Contact the Parish Clerk for further information or to apply for co-option. [email protected]. 07941 171805
Snow Warden The Parish Council Snow Warden, Cllr Chris Brian is on hand if we get heavy snowfall again this year. He will liaise with Gloucestershire Highways to ensure that the grit bins are replenished in a timely fashion. There is also a snow working plan that can be used to help keep the area to the school clear and help anyone who is in need. This does require volunteers though so if you would like to be a volunteer to be called on please let the parish council have your contact details or look on the web-site for when a working party may be needed.
Chris’s contact details are: 01453 753101 [email protected] Updates will also be posted on the parish website where necessary.
From Russ our Local Scribbler
Page 4 Community
Friends of
Whiteshill
School Thanks to the community from Whiteshill School.
For the past 4 years Whiteshill Primary School has been raising funds for our much needed 'outdoor classroom'. At last we can now say it is successfully built and in full working order by our pupils on a daily basis. The classroom now known as 'The Cabin' is serving as an all purpose teaching and recreation area, giving us the extra space we so urgently needed. So thank you to all that supported and joined us on all our fund raising events, especially Whitestock! Without you our goal would not have been achieved so quickly.
We are now focusing on a new project which is raising funds to supply all classes with an up to date tablet system, allowing our pupils to experience the benefits of such versatile equipment. Therefore this academic year we have various events planned in order to raise the £4,000 we need to find. One date to highlight in your diaries is on 11th July ' Whitestock 2015', from 5pm to 11pm, which is ex-pected to be even better than the last!!!! As always we look forward to seeing you all, friends, family and neighbours, for an evening of wonderful music, food, drink and fun for all ages.
Any enquiries don't hesitate to contact the school or the PTA on 07813 777197.
WW1 Centenary
Concert at St Paul’s
Church
Community spirit was in full flow for the WW1 Commemorative Concert held at St. Paul’s Church on Saturday 8th November. Performing to a packed au-dience, Whiteshill & Ruscombe Choir, Whiteshill Primary School Choir and the local writers group, presented an after-noon concert of songs, poetry, stories, and images, in a tribute to The Fallen.
Compered by Roger Scrivin, with musical direction by Jane Williams, and arrangements by Chris Owen, the choirs were accompanied on piano by Lucas Bailey, Classical and Jazz Pianist, and Dominic Jewel, Chief Executive of Three Choirs Festival.
Soloist Juliet Curnow, mezzo-soprano, gave a powerful performance of “Roses of Picardy”.
While in the second-half, Jane Williams sang a sparkling version of “Daisy Bell” and invited the audience to join in the chorus. This was followed later by bass soloist, Haydn Sutton, with an emotion-ally charged rendering of “Bring him home” from Les Misérables .
Page 5 Community
Overseen by Head Teacher, Diane Bainbridge, Whiteshill School Choir per-formed a series of songs that captured the mood of those who fought during The Great War, together with soloists, Emma Smith, Rosa Evans, and Tom Edwards, who each gave heartfelt versions of “I want to go home”. Pupils read out the names of The Fallen taken from the local war memorial, after which Tom Hilton, delivered a powerful recitation of Siegfried Sassoon’s poem “Attack”. Roger Scrivin invited the audience to view the school’s WW1 commemorative frieze dis-played at the front of the church. .
On-screen visuals generated by Chris King, displayed photos of parishioners’ ancestors who had fought in WW1, together with postcard and propaganda images. An exhibition created by Nick Quayle from memorabilia loaned from Stratford Park Museum, provided an additional tableau for parishioners to view.
Mary Dunford, Dr Pam Keevil, Richard Hensley, and Sarah King, who are all members of Whiteshill & Ruscombe Writ-ers’ Group, each performed readings. These included a WW1 true-life diary extract, a poem written in response to a
soldier’s last request detailed on a postcard, together with stories inspired by tales of courage. Choir member, Nikki Ashworth, also recited a poem based on an anti-war song.
Prayers for The Fallen were said by Rev. Brian Woollaston, followed by a poignant Last Post and Reveille played on cornet by Gary Dingle.
Floral tributes decorated throughout the church, added to the sense of occasion, courtesy of the Altar Guild, with refreshments served by an enthusiastic team from Whiteshill Wives. A group of volunteers from The Mason, Smith, Clissold, and Samak families, provided much needed assistance with construction of the school staging and Front of House, to-gether with support from Church Warden, Michael Bailey, and Church Office Administrator Christine Pearce.
A collection for “Help For Heroes” charity 1120920 raised £510, together with £500 for The “British Legion” from the sale of hand-crafted poppies creat-ed by Jenny Bell, from re-cycled plas-tic. Photographs of the concert were taken by Lisa Balfour, with filming
/cont
Page 6 Community
for Stroud Community TV by Philip Booth http://stroudcommunity.tv/highlights-ww1-concert-17mins/
The concert was brought to a close with a reprise of Chris Owen’s clever arrange-ment for the WW1 Medley, with a Vote of Thanks at the end by choir founders, Nikki Ashworth, and Nick Quayle. Everyone agreed it was truly moving and memorable occasion. Sarah King
Walking Plants It was recently noted that some of the new plants from the planted boxes had gone for a walk. The community planters are looked after and paid for by the community, for all to enjoy. Should anyone
wish to know where to purchase similar plants, please contact the Parish clerk Helen Dunn
Shed Burglaries We have become aware that further shed burglaries have taken place in the area. Please ensure your sheds are secure with nothing on show. Shed alarms help as a deterrent and are available from Gloucester Police at approx £5.00. Please see the link below for further information http://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/Advice%20Centre/item9456.html
Whiteshill &
Ruscombe
Pumpkin
Trail 2014 Lady Luck was very much on our side for this year’s Pumpkin Trail, held on Saturday 1st November. The sun shone all day and both parishioners and visi-tors made the most of the fine weather walking around all the exhibits.
Again the imaginative powers of the residents of Whiteshill and Ruscombe showed just how much talent lies hid-den in these Cotswold Valleys. Whilst the number of pumpkins on display was somewhat down on previous years the quality and ingenuity of the entries continues to delight and hopefully in-spire others to take part.
The judges for this year’s event were, Mary Hill from Barrowfield and Tony Pegg from Chalford. They found making selections for the various categories extremely hard but eventually arrived at the following winners;
Under 10’s: Finley and Fraser Bell from Whiteshill (Pic 1)
Age 10 to 15: Robyn Kerry from Whiteshill (Pic 2)
Over 15’s, Adults & Families: The Bri-an Family from Ruscombe (Pic 3)
Most Voted For: Sue and Jean Bertin from Whiteshill (Pic 4)
Photographs of all the entries are on display in the Village Shop. Thank you to all who took part and to our judges. I look forward to seeing your entries in 2015.
Chris King – Event Organiser
Page 7 Community
PIC 1 PIC 2
PIC 3
PIC 4
Page 8 Community
Whiteshill
Playgroup Whiteshill Playgroup is now open 9am - 3pm, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. At Whiteshill Playgroup we aim to pro-vide a fun, friendly, caring & safe envi-ronment for our children.
Whiteshill Playgroup is very fortunate to be able to offer daily indoor and outdoor play, free-flow, we have the added ad-vantage of having beautiful playing fields and a park on our doorstep which we use every day.
We ensure that all learning is fun, stimu-lating and varied. Our qualified and ex-perienced staff have a close bond with the children appreciating their individual interests and needs.
Our children have excellent opportuni-ties to develop their creative and physi-cal skills to increase their confidence. An extensive range of rich, varied and imag-inative activities are available during all sessions.
We pride ourselves on our partnership with parents who are encouraged to be involved in all aspects of our playgroup. In our Ofsted inspection, the inspector said “The children attending the play-group thoroughly enjoy themselves”.
Please feel free to drop in and visit us anytime, our opening hours are Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 9-3, at Whiteshill Scout Hut, Whiteshill Playing Fields, or call Sara (Playleader) on 07717 874881.
WELCOME TO OUR VILLAGE
SHOP AND CAFE
We are Open Every Day
Monday to Friday
9am - 5pm
Saturday: 9am - 1pm
Sunday: 9am - 11am
Christmas Eve and New Year’s
Eve: 9am - 11am
Closed on Christmas Day,
Boxing Day and New Year’s Day
To all our customers
We have freshly baked crusty white and brown bread. Fresh vegeta-
bles. Frozen meals including vege-tarian Cakes — Sweets — Cards —
Order your Papers — Is there something you want us to
order?
Take a break in our cafe,
have a light lunch, meet
friends for a hot drink and a
catch up. Come in and have
a look around.
No alcohol and no money left on the premises at night.
We always value volunteer help if you have a spare slot in the week?
Why not pop in for a chat and a coffee?
Page 9 Community
Christmas Quiz from
Angela King Thought you’d like this combination of both a Gloucestershire and First World War quiz. It’s just perfect for a Christ-mas afternoon! Answers on Page 13
1. Who wrote about the Tailor of Gloucester?
2. What is a Dursley Lantern? 3. What animal is a Gloucester Old
Spot? 4. What else is made locally that is
called Old Spot? 5. Who is Berkeley’s most famous doc-
tor? 6. Which King is buried in Gloucester
Cathedral? 7. Where does the annual event of
Cheese Rolling take place in Glouces-tershire?
8. Who wrote the music for the hymn Jerusalem?
9. Which ‘new’ weapon was introduced into battle in The First World War?
10. Who was the mistress of Henry the second, who was born at Manor Farm Frampton on Severn?
11. Who gave a bequest of £1000 to buy solid gold communion plate for St Mary’s church in the mid 19th century? The name of the person is well known in Frampton today
12. Who wrote the music to the song ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’?
13. Which location in Gloucester City was the former site of William The Conqueror’s Palace?
14. Which public house was the au-thor Laurie Lee’s, drinking haunt?
15. What is the date of Armistice Day? 16. From what metal objects were
Victoria Crosses made 17. Who was the British Prime Minis-
ter at the beginning of The First World War?
18. What is the full Roman name for Gloucester?
19. What Gloucestershire school did Stephen Fry attend?
20. Which Stroud MP 1837 - 1841 went on to become Prime Minister?
21. How many Farthings in one shil-ling?
22. What coin were new recruits giv-en, to enlist for service in the First World War?
23. What was the common nickname for U.S. troops in World War 1?
24. In which country was the Royal Gloucestershire Regiment award-ed a cap badge for both the back and the front?
25. There are different brews made by The Uley Brewery. How many can you name?
BOXING DAY WALK You are welcome to join
us for the now tradi-tional walk around
the village which takes about one and a half
hours, meeting at 10.30 am in the Car Park and ending up at The Star. Dogs are welcome but only if they are kept under control at all times. John Rogers
Page 10 Community
News from
Angela King
your Village
Agent
07776 245 791
Stay Warm and Well at home this winter The Warm and Well advice line has been helping people tackle their energy bills and make their homes more comfortable for over 10 years. Since 2001, they’ve given advice and provided grants to thou-sands of households in Gloucestershire helping them to stay warm and well. Their trained energy advisors can give you practical advice on making your home warmer. This includes installing loft and wall insulation or renewable technol-ogies as well as making sure your heating is up to scratch. They can also help you stretch your energy even further if you are worried about how you are going to pay your fuel bills this winter. The Warm and Well advice team have the infor-mation to ensure you receive the help you need. In certain areas of Gloucestershire, if you’re on certain benefits or over the age of 60, you may even be able to receive financial support for installing loft and cavity wall insulation. Speak to one of their advisors today to find out if you qualify.
If you’re worried that your home is par-ticularly inefficient and wastes a lot of energy, they have local qualified asses-sors who can carry out a Green Deal As-sessment on your home as a way of giving your home a health check to
ensure it is doing all it should and is fit for purpose. You may need one of these assessments if you are looking to access funding.
The council-backed Warm and Well advice line can help you with all this and much more. For free, impartial and local energy saving advice, call the Warm and Well advice line on 0800 500 3076.
All offers are subject to survey and funding availability. To find out the full criteria for each element, speak to a Warm and Well adviser. Warm and Well is managed by Severn Wye Energy Agency (a non-profit company and charity, and an approved Green Deal Advice Organisation) and supported by the seven local authorities in Glouces-tershire and South Gloucestershire.
On another point - I know that public transport is a real issue in our area, especially for those who have restrict-ed mobility, so I thought that people might be interested to know that there is a new service operating in Glouces-tershire and they call themselves Third Sector Services. This is in addition to the Voluntary Car Transport run by the VCA in Stroud. Third Sector provide cost effective door-to-door community transport throughout Gloucestershire. This is what they say about the service: “ We help thousands of people with limited mobility, regardless of age, who find it difficult to use public transport by providing a cost-effective door-to door transport service, staffed by high-ly trained volunteers and paid drivers,
Page 11
all of whom are enhanced DBS checked. We operate using wheelchair accessible minibuses and volunteer cars. There is a registration fee with a small fee for jour-neys charged depending on distance trav-elled.” They go on to say that people can use them for trips to the shops, health appointments, the hairdressers or visiting friends. For more information on the ser-vice ring 0845 680 5029 or see their web-site www.thirdsectorservices.org.uk
Angela King, Village Agent 07776 245 791
St. Paul's Church News
A review of recent activities must include grateful thanks to all the helpers at the churchyard blitz held on August 23rd, and indeed to all the helpers who strim and cut throughout the year. Although it's a team effort, it needs a leader, and our thanks to Heather Bayly for organising it.
The other event that was successful, thanks to a team effort, was the Harvest Festival cum Messy Church on October 12th, and again we had an inspired lead-er in Angie Mason. Messy Church is an informal form of worship involving all ages, so please come along and try out the next one
At the Battle of Britain service on September 14th at Ruscombe Chapel, it was great to see Eric Papps, and with this year's emphasis on World War 1, we must never forget those who served in WW2. At the time of writing the final preparations are in hand for the WW1 Commemorative Concert on November 8th and the Remembrance Day service at
the War Memorial and in Church next day. It is fitting to have the cross re-stored on the War Memorial for this year.
Looking forward, applications for the Strachan's Charity will soon be invited by John Cole and Padre Brian. Next year is our 175th anniversary, and could we appeal for any old photos or memora-bilia for a planned exhibition. Any exhib-its would be only on loan, and very carefully looked after. Please phone or e mail as below if you have anything, we would be most grateful.
The Christmas Services will take the usual pattern.
December 16th will be Whiteshill School's Christmas presentation
December 21st the Christingle service will be in the afternoon
December 24th the midnight ser-vice will start at 11.30pm on Christ-mas Eve.
Christmas Day There will be Holy Communion at 8.00am, and Family service at 10.30 am.
You will be very welcome to come to any of these services.
At our sister Church at Paganhill, there will be a Crib service at 4.00pm Christmas Eve, and Holy Communion at 9.00 am Christmas Day, and a warm welcome will await you there.
Michael Bailey. Tel 01453 762510. [email protected]
Community
Page 12 Community
Community
Safety Tips for
Winter Nights
Here are some quick tips to keep your house and possessions safe.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER:
That lights and radios on timer switch-es are a good deterrent to burglars because they give the impression that you are at home. Remember to use them from 4.00 before you get home.
Be a good neighbour and check on el-derly neighbours during snowy and icy weather
Never let any door-to-door sellers into your home unless you are expecting them. If in doubt call the Police non-emergency number - "101" or if an emergency - "999", should you need to. Also use a viewer and chain.
To give time switches, shed alarms and timers as Christmas presents. They can be purchased at most DIY type stores or enquire at Stroud Police station.
When buying new bikes for Christmas remember the front and rear lights, cycle helmets (a life saver), reflective bibs and vests and wind-up torches
Don’t let the burglars know what presents you’ve had by discreetly dis-posing of the boxes. Make a note of the make, model and serial numbers of new items; then postcode them and register them on the site www.immobilise.com - Immobilise is the world's largest free register of possession ownership details.
New Pension rules —
what do
they mean
for you? New rules about how you can access your pension savings will come into effect in April 2015. From this date, you'll be able to access and use your pension pot in any way you want to, after you reach the age of 55.
The main changes include:
the option to take up to 25 per cent of your pension pot as a tax-free lump sum when you retire
converting some or all of the rest of the money in the pot into a guaran-teed regular income, called an annuity
taking out the rest of the money in stages or as one lump sum, which will be taxed.
Sandi Sorell, Deputy Manager of Stroud & District CAB says ‘If you're retiring before April 2015, the existing rules have been relaxed, meaning you can take out more of your pension as a lump sum and change the amount you can take out in stages. Working out what to do with your pension savings is a big decision, so it's important to look at your options carefully. From April 2015, you'll be able to get free and impartial advice to help you decide. If you're planning to retire between now and then, you could talk to a free ser-vice such as the Pensions Advisory Ser-vice on 0300 123 1047, or speak to a financial adviser.’
The Stroud & District CAB have a free-phone telephone number for advice 0808 800 0510 and will also give advice by email. Self-help advice is also available from the website.
Emails can be submitted via the website www.stroudcab.org.uk. The CAB helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free, inde-pendent and confidential advice and by influencing policymakers. Press only: Contact Sandi Sorell 01453 758252 ext 202 [email protected]
ANSWERS TO THE CHRISTMAS QUIZ
1. Beatrix Potter 2. A term used when a
gentleman wore his shirt tails outside his trousers so that he could be seen.
3. A pig 4. The name of a beer brewed in
Uley 5. Edward Jenner 6. Edward 11 7. Coopers Hill 8. Sir Hubert Parry in 1916 9. The tank 10. Fair Rosamund 11. Ann Wicks 12. Ivor Novello 13. Kingsholm 14. Woolpack, Slad 15. 11th November 1918 16. Guns and cannons from the
Crimean war 17. Herbert Asquith 18. Glevum Colonia 19. Stouts Hill 20. Lord John Russell 21. 48 22. One guinea 23. Dough Boys 24. Egypt at the battle of Alexandria
in World War 1 25. 1) Hogshead 2) Uley Bitter 3)
Laurie Lee’s Bitter 4) Old Ric 5) Pigs Ear 6)Old Spot . Plus sea-sonal and occasional ones – Rev-erend Janet, Gilt Edge and Pigor Mortis!
Happy Christmas to you all. From your Village Agent: Angela King 07776 245 791
Page 13
Mixed Junior Hockey is at Stratford Park every Friday
night 5pm to 6pm on the astro turf pitch. We take children of all abilities from the
age of 8 to 13 years. Please contact: Angie Mason on 07727 941239 or email: [email protected]
2014/15 DEADLINES FOR
RECEIPT OF WARBLER
ARTICLES ARE:
Spring 2015 - 13th February Summer 2015 - 8th May
Autumn 2015 - 14th August Winter 2015 - 6th November
Please limit your articles to 750 words if possible. Thank you.
Community
Page 14
Classi f ied Ads
Thank you to all our
Advertisers.
Wishing you a Happy and
Prosperous New Year
Page 15 Classi f ied Ads
Parish Council
Contacts Rebecca Charley (Chair) [email protected] Mrs Helen Dunn (Clerk) 23 Tennyson Road, Dursley, Glos GL11 4PZ OR phone Tel: 07941 171805 [email protected] for Warbler articles by email please send to: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.wrpc.org.uk
Village Hall Please let us know of any changes to contact details. All enquiries and bookings on 01453 759023 AGM is on Friday 16th January at 8.00pm MONDAY Keep Fit 19:30 to 20:30 (Ring Lyn on 01453 766609 or 07773 493517) TUESDAY—Balboa for beginners 19.30 Intermediate 20.30—21.15. Phone Lisa 01453 752842 WEDNESDAY - Art Class 14:00 to 16:00 Yoga 18.00—19.00 Phone Beverley 07932 874172 Community Choir 20.00 to 21.00 Nick Quayle 01453 752519 or email [email protected] THURSDAY — W&R Toddler Group 9:30 to 11:30 Phone Gemma on 07787 434765 Wives Group First Thursday in month 19:00 to 21:00 Parish Council 2nd and 4th Thursday in month 19:30 to 22:00 FRIDAY - Ballet 16:00 to 18:00
WHITESHILL ACTIVITIES
Large Print WaRblers If you would like a large print version of The WaRbler or you know anyone
who would, then please contact
(Parish Clerk) details above.
Page 16
ADVERTISING To advertise your business in the WaRbler, please forward items
to the Parish Clerk. 1 x advert price @ £25.00
2 x repeat adverts @ £42.50 3 x repeat adverts @ £60.00 4 x repeat adverts @ £75.00
Make cheques payable to: 'Whiteshill & Ruscombe Parish Council' and please
send to the Parish Clerk (see above) Technical Spec: Ideally, wherever
possible, a High Definition 300 dpi PDF or JPG image needs to be emailed to [email protected] in the exact size
i.e. 65 mm W X 85 mm H. In addition a hard copy of the advert
layout, order, and a cheque, made out to Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish
Council should be sent to Helen Dunn. (see above for contact details)
Scout and Guide HQ Please let us know of any changes to con-tact details. All enquiries and bookings contact Edd Brereton on 01453 762469 TUESDAY — 9.00—15.00 Whiteshill Playgroup Contact: 07717 874881 WEDNESDAY — 9.00—15.00 Whiteshill Playgroup Contact: 07717 874881 Whist Drive 19:15 Contact Ken Wood - 01453 764175 THURSDAY — 9.00—15.00 Whiteshill Playgroup Contact: 07717 874881 Beavers 18:00 to 19:00 Contact Rachael Gabb 07779 877292 email: [email protected] Cubs 19:15 to 20:30 Contact Angie Mason 07727941239 [email protected]
