Annual Village Fete – would you like to be involved?

Annual Village Fete

After the success of the Queen’s Birthday Celebrations many people felt that it was time to resurrect the West Bergholt Annual Village Fete. We can envisage an event taking place some time around the August Bank Holiday weekend, based in the Orpen Hall and on the Lorkin Daniell Field offering:

Stalls,
Games,
Veg/Flower Shows,
Competitions,
Music,
Food,
Your idea here?

Would you like to be involved in organising an Annual West Bergholt Fete?

Do you have ideas about what the Fete could consist of?

Do you know someone else who might?

Then come along to the first Village Fete Working Party meeting on Monday 14th November at 7.30pm in the John Lampon Hall, Lexden Road.

Anyone welcome! All ideas appreciated!

This will not be in competition with the School’s Summer Fayre, the PTA are keen to be involved, as they were for the QEII 90th Celebrations.

For any information, please contact Laura Walkingshaw (Parish Clerk) on 07726 424419

November 8, 2016November 8, 2016

1966 And All That – Football, Radio Caroline, Music

1966 And All That

1966 was a memorable year for many things, most notably England winning the World Cup after the Cup was lost but then found by Pickles. But locally music made a name for itself as the Radio Caroline pirate radio ship MV Mi Amigo ran aground on the beach at Frinton. With Pirate Radio pulsing on the airwaves everybody was in to the latest music and West Bergholt Concert Band aim to bring that all back to life in their special concert for Children In Need.

The Music

The Concert Band will be playing a selection of music both from and inspired by the revolutionary year that was 1966; it will include:

Pet Sounds,
Dr Who,
Rolling Stones,
Star Trek,
Motown,
The Jungle Book, and
The Producers.

Where, When & How Much?

The concert takes place in the Church of St Mary the Virgin on Saturday 19th November from 7:30pm. Tickets are available on the door, £5 for adults, under-18s free.

November 5, 2016November 25, 2016

Keep the Bell Ringing Appeal for St Mary’s

Heritage of St Mary's Old Church, West Bergholt — The classic view of St Mary’s Old Church – our local heritage

Keep the Bell Ringing

Friends of St Mary’s Old Church have launched the “Keep the Bell Ringing” appeal for £10,000 .

Why £10,000?

Our 1,000-year-old West Bergholt Old Church in Hall Road is now in need of serious care and attention to give it the chance to continue another 1,000 years. Its roof is leaking in 2 places requiring repair of the valley gutter and dormer window, and the belfry needs work on its weather cladding. The estimate of cost for this external work, by the Churches Conservation Trust which now cares for this redundant church, is an eye-watering £127,200. The CCT secured grant funding for most of this sum, but we have to raise the funding shortfall of £10,000 locally.

How you can help

We need your help! The plan is to erect scaffolding and do this specialist work next Spring, so we need to raise the funds quickly to make this happen. To confirm the grant the donors need to see that we can raise our share of the money.

We will ring-fence all donations to this appeal, you could help us in the following ways:

Firstly make a donation either:
- by cheque to the ‘Friends of St Mary’s Old Church” sent to our Treasurer: Rhys Lloyd, 4 Coopers Crescent, West Bergholt, CO6 3SJ.
- by electronic transfer online to a/c no. 65515734, Sort Code 09-92-99. Please indicate who the donation is coming from.
- through justgiving.com: to the “ St. Mary’s Old Church West Bergholt” appeal.
Next, consider coming to the events we are planning this autumn:
- Table Top Sale: Saturday 19th November at the Orpen Hall, 10am-2pm at the Orpen Hall. We will be serving Light lunches and refreshments. Call Gill Poole on 240512 to book a sale table. Entrance 50p.
- Mulled Wine and Mince Pies in the Old Church – Sunday 11th December from 12.00 – 2.30pm. Come and admire the Christmas trees decorated by various village groups, and meet friends and neighbours. This is a free event but donations will be gratefully received, and memberships (just £5), renewed.
Buy our Christmas cards of the Old Church:
- at our events,
- the local shops, or
- from Teresa on 241878 or Jane on 240167. 6 cards for £3.50.
Become a Friend of St Mary’s Old Church or renew your membership (just £5). Phone Rhys or Carrie or visit the church for details.
Make your friends aware of our Appeal; also that the Old Church is open to visitors from 10am – 4pm every day.
Hold a fundraising events or help us with one of ours. To offer help, please contact Jane or Carrie.

Internal works as well

While this external repair work is undertaken we will also carry out urgently needed plastering work and decoration inside the church. This will be funded by the very generous legacy of Mrs Yvonne Henderson which was left specifically for this purpose.

Thank you for reading this appeal. We hope you will be able to help us preserve our lovely ancient church for future generations and keep it available for the use of our village. Please be as generous as you can.

Celebrate Christmas with us

Start your Christmas celebrations this year by coming to the 2016 Candlelight Carol Service at the Old Church on 18th December at 2.30pm.

Contacts

Jane – [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or 240167,
Carrie – [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or 240466.

November 4, 2016November 4, 2016

Bang on Timing

Bang On Timing

Just as all the firework debris litters our streets the timing of the West Bergholt Litter Warriors plan to hit the streets on Sunday 6th November couldn’t be better.

As ever, all equipment will be provided and the Warriors will be leaving from outside the Orpen Hall at 10am and spend an hour picking. Why not join them & help to keep West Bergholt beautiful?

Grot Spot Alert?

Seen a Grot Spot that needs tidying? Let the Litter Warriors know either by calling the Grot Spot Hotline 07726 424419 or by email to [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

November 4, 2016

St Mary’s Update – 1st November 2016

St Mary’s Church update for 1st November provides listings of services, bible readings and other events and news such as Remembrance & Christmas services.

Christmas Choir

Calling all Singers! Caroline Finlay will once again be getting together a group of people to sing at the Carol Services at the Old Church on 18th December and at St Mary’s on Christmas Eve (6.45pm). No auditions necessary! The first rehearsal is Sunday 20th November @ 10am in church. Continue reading “St Mary’s Update – 1st November 2016”

October 29, 2016October 29, 2016

5 Es to Address Traffic Safety

Responding to concerns about traffic related safety issues in the village, the Parish Council has helped to form a group whose brief is to explore ways of addressing these concerns. This group consists of Parish Councillors, Borough Councillors and residents who want to help bring about improvements; since September it has met three times.

As a starting point, the Village Safety Plan of 2012, which led to changes in New Church Road, has been revisited. As then, no single measure will solve all our problems, and so an approach, which is termed the 5 Es, is being followed.

Engage the community
Encourage good driving and parking
Educate all sections of the community
Enforce the regulations
Engineer revised road layouts

All need careful thought and cooperation to achieve, with 4E and 5E being most difficult and needing most time; however we have made a start.

On 25th February in the Orpen Hall a safety promotional event is being planned and will be advertised fully in the New Year, so please look out for details and make every effort to attend.

Trygve

Following increased activity on Facebook about 30 residents have already downloaded an App called Trygve. This gives you the chance to report incidents, with photographs if appropriate, and will:

give the authorities the means to identify persistent safety abusers, and
enable the group to collect evidence to support action at the most dangerous hotspots.

That being so, if you feel able, please sign up to join those already giving their support using this link.

Communications

The team are also establishing good communications with the School, hence parents, and there are plans to engage other key players such as the Coop.

If you have ideas to help, or would like more information, please contact the group through the Parish Clerk, Laura Walkinshaw, on 240772 or [email protected].

Harry Stone
(Vice Chair of Parish Council)

October 29, 2016

Village Bulletin Quiz 2016 – Result for Parkinson’s

Chris Stevenson presenting cheque to Will Owen

Village Bulletin Quiz 2016 Results

Fourteen teams entered the Village Bulletin Quiz held on Saturday 8th October in the Orpen Hall. Together with a raffle and a very popular game of ‘Human Bingo‘, the event raised £336 for the Colchester branch of the Parkinson’s UK charity.

Chris Stevenson, Chairman of the Parish Council, presented the cheque at this week’s Council meeting. Will Owen, who also attended the quiz, expressed his gratitude for the donation on receiving the cheque on behalf of Parkinson’s.

Winners of the Bulletin Quiz Phil Spencer, Chris Stevenson, Laura Walkingshaw and Harry Stone being presented with the Challenge Trophy — The wining team being presented with the Challenge Trophy

The Parish Council team of Phil Spencer, Chris Stevenson, Laura Walkingshaw and Harry Stone won this year; apparently this was not a fix. 🙂

Second & third placed teams were ‘The Dixters’ and ‘The Gardeners Association‘.

Susan Leng, quizmaster, and other organisers and Bulletin Team helpers also attended for the presentation. The Parish Council thanked the team for their hard work in running such an enjoyable evening.

October 26, 2016February 23, 2019

All Change at The Village Bulletin

The team at the Village Bulletin is changing as new editor Jacqui Kibby takes the reins. She is keen to ensure that all local clubs and groups are able to get their news into the December edition. The deadline for copy (1st November), is fast approaching, though, so please send it in as soon as possible.

Contact the new Editor with your news – Jacqui Kibby – [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

December Deadline – 1st November

To read all back copies of the Village Bulletin and check other Village News and events, visit the following pages on the website:

Village Bulletins – https://westbergholt-pc.gov.uk/villagebulletin/.
News Feed – https://westbergholt-pc.gov.uk/news/.
Village Events Diary – https://westbergholt-pc.gov.uk/news/village-diary/.
Roadworks & Closures – https://westbergholt-pc.gov.uk/news/roadworks/
Links to recent Facebook Posts – https://westbergholt-pc.gov.uk/news/recent-facebook-posts/.

October 26, 2016

Concert Band’s Busy Autumn

The band have already been very busy around the village this autumn, holding an open rehearsal at Heathlands in September and a primary school workshop (again at Heathlands) in October. Coming up as well we have a concert in the Church of St Mary in November, and of course we’ll be playing for the village Remembrance Service.

Workshop

Surprisingly the workshop was the first one we’ve held at Heathlands, as historically the school musicians were encouraged to join the band by its founder Sid Cooper who taught music there. These days our approach to maintaining a wide range of ages in the band is to hold regular primary school workshops, which have proven to be an incredibly popular and fun way for us to encourage tomorrow’s musicians. We were delighted to see so many players from Heathlands join us for the workshop and perform a wonderful “mini concert” at the end of it, and to see such enthusiasm for music at the school. The final word goes to somebody at the workshop…

The band made everyone feel very welcome indeed – what a fun afternoon!

Concerts & Charities

At the time of writing this, we’re looking forward to performing our “1966 And All That” concert in the village. This will be our first concert on home turf for a couple of years. This time we’ll be raising money for Children In Need to add to the £35,000 that we’ve raised for local & national charities since we started recording the amounts a dozen years ago. That amount includes:

almost £10,000 for St Helena Hospice, not including the amounts we raised for them before our records began,
£4000 we’ve raised over the years for the village Church and its charities, including at 2004’s impromptu “Last Night Of The Proms In A Barn” when the heavens opened unexpectedly.

Christmas

As always we’ll end the year with a concert featuring the wonderful music of Christmas. This year we are at the beautiful St Peter ad Vincula Church in Coggeshall again on Saturday 10th December at 7:30pm. The concert will include music from Vaughan-Williams, Irving Berlin, Leroy Anderson (Sleigh Ride), The Beach Boys (Little Saint Nick) and many others. We’ll also be performing a selection of carols, some to sing to, and some beautiful arrangements that are perfect for listening to. We hope you’ll join us for a lovely evening of festive music in a lovely setting.

As always, details on all of our events are available on the band website www.wbcb.org. New players of any age are always welcome to come along on Friday evenings at Heathlands School, or our next Open Rehearsal on 20th January. We look forward to seeing you at our Christmas Concert, and we wish you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

October 25, 2016October 14, 2018

Fairies & Fruits

A report on the Autumn Fruits Walk by Steve Hallam

On the 16th October I ran the fourth Autumn Fruits nature walk around and through Hillhouse Wood. The fact that I am able to make this statement is a slight surprise because the previous evening’s weather forecast had heavy rain bang on the time of the walk, and light rain for an hour either side. On which basis I had anticipated being on my own. Accordingly, I was quite pleased to hear heavy rain falling when I woke up, suggesting that it was moving through earlier than forecast. And so, by around 9.45 the rain was becoming showery and the clouds were lightening. But would everyone have been put off? As it turned out the answer was ‘no’ with nine hardy souls arriving at the church. Naturally, as this was the first year I forgot to bring any sweets, two of them were young children. Typical!

Keeping interest levels up

This year, unlike in 2015, I had ample time to survey the route and knew there was plenty to see. But, as a result, this would make it a relatively long walk (about two hours) and I wasn’t sure how long the youngsters’ interest would last. As I’ve commented on before, it has been a surprise to discover how the presence, location and abundance of plants vary from year to year. So each year there are pleasant surprises with the occasional disappointment. This year’s disappointments were an absence of Black nightshade, virtually no Dogwood berries or Sloes, a reduced variety of flowers, and the fact that the crop of our one Plumtree had already finished.

Happier Side

On the happier side of the coin, this year we had another great display of wild hops, a relatively large number of Holly berries, good displays of both Black and White bryony (no relation) and a pretty flower that I’ve not previously seen – Creeping cinquefoil; a flower that is easy to mistake for a Buttercup.

Fairies

And so to my two mini-walkers, Abigail and James. It turned out that they each had a fairy – Abigail’s was called Rosehip and James’s was called Blueberry. They were keen to see the real-life berries that their fairies were named after. We would see both, but my challenge was to maintain their interest at a high enough level to keep them in the group until we got there. Luckily for me, we came across Rosehips fairly quickly, which pleased Abigail and made James keen to find ‘his’ berry.

Even without the incentive of sweet rewards they were both happy playing the ‘Hip or Haw’ challenge. This kept them going until I managed to find some Sloes – as close as you can get to a Blueberry in north-east Essex. In the end, they got nearly half way round before James’s little legs reached their limit and their Mum took them home. I thought they both did very well.