Community, Parish Council & Village
The Environment & Highways Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 9th March 2023 with topics including:
This edition of St Mary’s News starts with Daffodils & Hope and then continues with:
As March beckons, spring bursts onto the scene. The words of William Wordsworth might come to mind as we see the daffodils emerging from beneath the ground:
Continue reading “St Mary’s News – the Daffodils & Hope edition”
This edition of St Mary’s News starts with “hopes for 2023″Love is all around me”, and continues with other news including:
‘I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes, Christmas is all around me and so the feeling grows’
… say the lyrics of the Christmas film, which has just celebrated its 20th anniversary, Love Actually.
It doesn’t seem five minutes since we were celebrating Christmas, and yet in the world of advertising and card manufacture, we have definitely moved on, into a season more appropriately linked to the original lyrics of the song, first performed by the Troggs in 1967 ‘I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes, Love is all around me, and so the feeling grows.’
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For the first time since 2018, the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church are holding a Candlelit Service in the Old Church. Following the success of their Mulled Wine & Mince Pies event, the Friends look forward to welcoming you on Sunday 18th December at 2:30 pm. The service is free and open to all and there’s now dedicated car parking opposite the church. Reverend Heather Wilcox will lead the service.
In 2019, the Friends were able to hold a Carol service but, because of redecoration works at the time they could not run it by candlelight. Since then, of course, the services have been unable to run due to Covid. So do come along and welcome this annual tradition back to the village.
Next Friday 16th December Vocal Zones Choir invite you to join them to celebrate Christmas. The event starts at 7:30pm in St Mary’s Church, New Church Road.
As well as the singing, there will also be wine and mince pies! Entry is free, there will be a raffle with some great prizes to be won.
Next Sunday, 27th November, the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church invite you to enjoy Mulled Wine & Mince Pies with them. This event will also afford you the opportunity to renew or join the friends.
Octavia will be performing during the event, which runs from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Octavia is a ‘sub-group’ of Quire.
Continue reading “Old Church Invite to Mulled Wine & Mince Pies”
Along with around 70 others, the Chair of West Bergholt Parish Council did a firewalk in the Orpen Hall car park last week. (See video below).
The fundraising event was organised by St Helena Hospice and proved very successful raising around £10,000!
The Hospice had arranged for a world record holding firewalker to brief the firewalkers in advance of braving the coals. This was quite an in-depth session taking about an hour ensuring that all participants would be safe walking barefoot over the coals.
Chair of the Council, Brian Butcher, said afterwards:
Continue reading “Firewalk Fundraiser for St Helena Hospice”
This edition of St Mary’s News starts with the Advent Experience of Posada, and continues with other news including:
Posada originates from Mexico where people dress as Mary and Joseph and re-enact the journey to Bethlehem, travelling from house to house asking for a place to stay (the word Posada means an inn). In recent years, this idea has been modified by churches in this country by sending the figures of Mary and Joseph and the donkey from house to house during Advent.
This year, we are offering the Posada experience in our village. From Sunday 27th November until Christmas Day, figures representing Mary and Joseph will travel round our community from home to home, stopping by arrangement, where there is a place for them and a warm welcome waiting.
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Essex Police are concerned that while many enjoy Halloween, some might not. Also, below, is news of a Colchester Business Opinion Survey. If you run a small, or a large business, you might want to check it out. First of all, though, what do Essex Police have to say about Halloween?
Halloween is a fun and exciting time for many but some people can find it unsettling. It’s often a busy time for police too. This Halloween they would like to remind everyone to think of others and be considerate around those not taking part. They say that they will take a robust approach to anyone causing problems.
Continue reading “Halloween – Fun or Fear?”
Following the Spring Quiz raising an amazing £385 for Ukraine, the Autumn quiz will support those closer to home with Inclusive Play Equipment for the Lorkin Daniell playground.
Anybody can join in with teams of 4 to 6 players allowed; the winning team will have their name engraved on the WB Challenge Cup. There will be ten rounds on subjects such as food and drink, sport and many other trivial matters; each round will comprise 10 questions. As the evening progresses you will be able to track the running total of each teams score.
Continue reading “Autumn Quiz for Inclusive Play”