ON AMPHIBIANS AND CONSERVATION.

Like the frogs at this time of year I’d rather be bouncing around in the garden.  The new pond that Steven made in the autumn seems to be proving itself a valuable addition to the ecological niche of the garden.  It is already full of daphnia and other water mini-beasts.  The garden provides living quarters for toads, newts, frogs and bats as well as various bird species.  The pond holds frog spawn as I write this, but I don’t yet know if the toads and newts have been as successful.   Several of our visitors are not as interested in newts and toads as my husband and I are.  In fact the Benefice Administrator admits to feeling slightly squeamish about squirmy amphibians.  I also know that they are endangered.

My garden and occasionally the house thanks to Mittens the Cat is also the home to a yellow-necked mouse – something we discovered when the Wiltshire Bat Conservation group were inspecting here last summer.

I’ll readily admit that I feel no desire to conserve mice, even unusual yellow-necked ones.  Instead I consult my favourite local pest control expert.

What makes one species make my flesh crawl and another make me ooh with excitement, conserving even the nasties of the animal world will no doubt prove important in ways I may not yet have realised.  In the meantime as I inspect mouse traps I’m reminded to have sympathy for those who dislike frogs and toads and to contemplate the challenge of worshipping a God who said of everything he made, even the squirmy, scary creatures that they were good.

The Reverend Rachma Abbott Priest in Charge, Woodhill Benefice.

The Vicarage Clyffe Pypard, SWINDON SN4 7PY.  01793 731134

 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

End of March    Spackman Charity

4^th April             Last date for Parish Council nomination forms

7^th April             School Easter service and end of term

7^th April             Big Gig Meeting

9^th April             Palm Sunday

10^th April           RWB Choral Society perform Stainer’s Crucifixion

14^th April           Good Friday

16^th April           Easter Day

19^th April           WI

22^nd April           Hilmarton Moviola

23^rd April           Annual village meeting and election of PCC

24^th April           Back to school

29^th April           Gentlemen’s breakfast club

1^st May              Bushton plant fair

20^th May            Church coffee morning

7^th June             Stall in RWB

24^th June           Concert by Supanova

1^st Sept             School TT day

LAUNCH OF BRAND NEW 100 CLUB LOTTERY

Christ Church, Broad Town are delighted to announce the launch a Brand New 100 Club Lottery to raise money for your church.

For just £1 a week, you can purchase a number between 1 and 100 in the Monthly Prize Draw.

Or you can purchase more than one number to increase your chances of winning.

Money is payable by Standing Order or in Cash and can be paid Weekly, Monthly or Annually.

Prizes will total 50% of all numbers purchased in a month up to a maximum of £100 first prize, £60 second prize and £40 third prize when all numbers have been sold.

The money raised will be used for the much-needed repairs to your church roof and floor and could in time be put towards installing a toilet.

Just think you could spend a £1 to spend a penny!

For further information please contact Fiona Holness on fholness@btinternet.com or telephone numbers 07833 683444 or 01793 850562.

 

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS

As you may already be aware all the Parish Councillors except for me resigned their positions effective of 13th February 2017. A new Parish Council needs to be elected.

Wiltshire Council is holding statutory elections on 4th May 2017. There are seven Parish Council positions. If more than seven candidates put themselves forward an election will be held; if less than seven candidates come forward an election will not be held and the positions will be filled by those persons nominated.

The new Parish Council will have a lot of work to do. Issues previously not addressed have not gone away. Speeding traffic, maintenance of footpaths, children’s play facilities and improvements of the sports field at Redhills are some.

It will be down to the new Parish Council to decide the frequency of meetings and how formal the meetings need to be. It will be a fresh start. A considerable amount of funding is now available for projects around the village through the Good Energy fund. Matched funding is available from the Area Board.

Should you wish to put yourself forward to become a Parish Councillor, and be part of the new Parish Council, all the information is on the Wiltshire Council web site (www.wiltshire.gov.uk/elections-2017), where you can check whether you are eligible and download the forms etc. You will need your electoral roll registration number which can be obtained from Wiltshire Council 01249 706595 or from me. All completed nomination forms need to be submitted by hand to Wiltshire Council by 4th April 2017 at 4pm. Wiltshire Council has agreed that one person can deliver the forms on behalf of others to save everyone the drive to Trowbridge or Chippenham.  Should you require it, I am happy to deliver your form.

If you need any further information or have any questions, then please either give me a call or send an email.  Councillor Simon Billis 01793 731188

 

BROAD TOWN BIG GIG 2017 – SATURDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

Plans for the Big Gig are now starting to firm up.  We have a good range of acts booked for the event which should please most tastes.  Local performer Bradley Cowtan – a Broad Town resident – is one of the acts booked and you can find out all about him on his website – www.bradleycowtan.com

Part of our focus this year is on children’s entertainment so that all the family can enjoy a day out.  We will be featuring a children’s entertainer and are actively looking into other possibilities.  If you have any suggestions please get in touch via our Facebook page www.facebook.com/TheBroadTownBigGig.

Please also visit our website www.thebroadtownbiggig.co.uk.

Our next meeting will take place on Friday 7 April at 8.30 pm in the Village Hall and we welcome anybody at all who would like to come along. Hope to see you there.

 

BROAD TOWN WI

Our speaker in March was Sue Dunmore from Swindon Volunteering.  She gave an informative talk explaining the history of volunteering, which started much longer ago than you would expect.  People have been helping the poor and needy for many hundreds of years.  She also explained that her organisation helps match willing helpers with the most appropriate area of need for their skills and interests.  They have a website do-it.org if you are interested.

Our normal meeting was followed by the AGM where a new committee was elected to take us through to next year.  Thank you to those who put themselves forward, we wish them well.

This month (April 19th) we will be entertained by Fred the Forager.  He will tell us about how to collect food from the wild!  Sounds intriguing!

We are a friendly group and welcome new members.  Our meetings are generally held on the third Wednesday of the month in the Village Hall.  If you are interested in visiting us, please contact Kate on 01793 731536.  We are also on the Broad Town Village website and on Facebook.

 

REMINDER

Do you know anyone who would benefit from a grant?  The Thomas Spackman charity might be able to help.  This could be in a time of severe temporary financial hardship or to fund some further education or training.

If you wish to find out more about the application process, contact Peter Shaw on 01793 731015 or email spackmancharity@gmail.com

All formal applications need to be in by the end of March.  The next opportunity to apply will be in October.

 

 

CALLIGRAPHY

There is a group of people in Clyffe Pypard who would like to start a calligraphy group in the Village Hall there on a week day morning.  We are looking towards arranging both “tutor-led” days and practice sessions.  If you think that you might be interested in joining us, do let me know and I can let you have more details as they are available.  Please contact Jan (jan_hargrave@yahoo.co.uk).

 

GENTLEMAN’S FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST CLUB

29^th April 2017 at the Duke public house in Hilmarton.  Doors open at 9:00am for 9:30am start. £7pp. + a raffle.  The speaker for the April meeting is Arthur Kingdom and the title of his talk will be “Underwater Photography”

Contact David May, davemay104@yahoo.co.uk if you would like to attend.

 

POLICING PRIORITIES

Since the Community Policing Team (CPT) model rolled out, our local police have been setting local area priorities in a more fluid way. The priorities, in the most simplistic form, are what officers are expected to be doing and where they should be patrolling when they are not responding to ongoing crimes or incidents or not carrying out enquiries relating to those crimes and incidents.

The priorities are set every two weeks and may be long term or short term. They are decided upon by the Police Sergeant and Inspector using various sources of information including:

• The views of the public expressed at Area Board and other public meetings.
• Reviewing crime reports to identify crime trends or identification of prolific offenders.
• Reviewing logs of calls created by the control room that highlight problems such as speeding.
• Evaluating information from Police Community Support Officers to identify community issues.
• The input of team sergeants who are managing crimes and incidents as they are reported.
• Input from other departments such as intelligence units and crime analysts.

The priorities for the CPT (RWB, Malmesbury and Cricklade) have during January and February included:

• Reducing anti-social behaviour in Cricklade with the result of a number of ASBOs being issued and a court appearance for one individual.
• Road safety checks including speed checks, mobile phones and the wearing of seat belts. Several fixed penalty notices have been issued and vehicles seized where being driven without insurance.

Andrew Law, Broad Town Neighbourhood Watch, 01793 731472

 

WILTSHIRE MOVIOLA

The next film on Saturday 22^nd April is Sully (12A) at 7.30pm in Hilmarton Parish Church Hall.  Doors open at 7pm. Tickets £6 from 27 Poynder Place 01249 760215 email MarkRickaby2@gmail.com Or 34 Church Road Hilmarton.

For more information call 01249 760312, hilmartonmoviola@hotmail.co.uk

Book a pre-cinema meal at The Duke 01249 760634

 

BUMPS & BEYOND BABY & TODDLER PLAYGROUP

We are a small friendly group who meet every Tuesday at Broad Town Village Hall, from 9.30-11.30am (term time only).  We run different craft activities and song time each week for all ages.  There are snacks for the children, and coffee and cake for the grownups!  First session is free.

This term we would like to welcome our newly appointed joint chairpersons to our group, Annie & Esther.  They will join the rest of the committee, Amy, Lou and Becky. We are all busy making plans for our Easter egg hunt and annual summer outing which is always lots of fun.

We would like to say a big thank you to our lovely volunteers who help in the kitchen every week with snacks and refreshments for the children and adults.  And a thank you to the volunteers who help us set up each week.  Without you all we couldn’t run, so thank you again.

If you would like any further information about our group, please pop in and see us.  Alternatively visit our Facebook page: Bumps & Beyond Mother & Toddler Group.

 

BUSHTON MANOR PLANT FAIR AND OPEN GARDEN

Bank Holiday Monday May 1^st 2017 11am -3pm Postcode SN4 7PX

This event has grown and grown over the last 10 years with over 700 people attending last year.

To celebrate this 10^th Anniversary there is to be a dedicated display of Garden Art which will include sculpture, painting, demonstrations and country style products.

Within the lovely grounds of this 18^th century Manor House there will be some 30 stalls scattered around the garden with plants, crafts and other related products as well as the ever popular bacon butty BBQ and home made refreshments.  A plant crèche will enable you to stroll around without having to carry your purchases.

For the younger people, there will be outside games to keep them occupied.

Money raised will go towards the upkeep of St Peter’s Church the Grade 1 listed building in Clyffe Pypard.  Entrance £2. Children and car parking free.

Further details   www.clyffepypard-bushton.com

 

 

 

HELLO

Can you drive?

I love my car!  Some of you will know that it has a name and whilst not always in pristine, polished condition, I love it!  I’ve been driving on the road since my 17^th birthday; driving around fields long before that too!  I cannot imagine how I would feel if I lost that independence, but I know that at some stage, like very many people, I will have to stop driving.  The feeling of complete and utter isolation must be horrific, and this is where the LINK schemes are absolutely fantastic.  Most of our area is covered by a Link scheme and they are a real success story.  Volunteers (like you?) give a few hours per month, either on a regular or ad hoc basis, to offer transport for isolated people to attend various appointments, often health related, but sometimes shopping or social events.  The Link scheme gives a mileage allowance to its drivers for motoring costs.  Is this something YOU could help with?  It is not an onerous task and it’s something which can be fitted in around our busy lives, but it makes such a huge difference to the users of the scheme. 

Are you an organiser?

LINK schemes are all about putting people in touch with people.  As such, a key LINK scheme role is that of the co-ordinator.  Taking calls from people needing transport and putting them in touch with LINK scheme drivers is the main thing that’s involved so if you like talking to people then this might be the ideal role for you.    Could you support this role even for just a few hours per week or month? 

Volunteers are wonderful and make the world go around.  We all volunteer from time to time, so how about trying something new?  Call me for a confidential chat to find out what it’s all about.  If you wish to take it further, I can put you in touch with your nearest Link Scheme – between us we can make a difference!

Meanwhile (after I have washed my car!), as ever, I am around for general help and support on a wide variety of issues including transport, mobility and safety around the home and reducing the feeling of loneliness.  Give me a call on 07557 922020 and leave a message.  I will get back to you as soon as possible.  Or email me on ellen.blacker@wiltshire.gov.uk

Ellen Blacker

Health and Wellbeing Champion

STOP PRESS……..do you have need for an MPV (people carrier) for your group or club.  There is one available to use in the area, contact alexa.smith@wiltshire.gov.uk for more details on how to borrow it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

BROAD TOWN PAINTER AND DECORATOR

Dear Broad Town Residents.  I have recently responded to some painting and decorating enquiries, from Broad Town residents.  Until they responded to a local advert, they didn’t know that Broad Town had a resident Painter and Decorator. Therefore, this short insert is to allow the Village to be aware of my services.  I only take on local work, and have very happy clients in Broad Town, who are more than happy to recommend the quality of my work.  I would be very happy, at any time, to look at any work you would like doing and provide you with an estimate.  

Best Wishes - Glen Morley, The Old Shop, 94a Broad Town.  Tel: 01793 739227 Mobile: 07545 573002

 

AMHERST CONTRACTORS

Amherst Contractors are a professional Local Authority Approved Contractor with a wealth of experience for over 20 years.

Local to the Broad Town area we offer all key services including: -

Digger Services from 1-20 ton, Excavation, Ground Works,

Ditches, Soak Away, Drainage & Septic Tank Installation,

Complete Pumping Systems,

Pond Construction & Landscaping,

All Ground Maintenance & Fencing Services,

Gravel & Compost Supplies,

Driveways and much more.

To enquire and get a free friendly no obligation quote call Francis

Mobile: 07921 856089 Office: 01793 772268 Email:mailto:amherstcontractors@hotmail.co.uk

 

THE GUILD OF WILTSHIRE ARTISTS

Run workshops at the Village Hall on every first Friday and third Saturday of the month from 10am to 3pm.  All are welcome including painters who are beginners. The cost is still £5 per person per session which includes tea/coffee and biscuits but do bring a packed lunch.  Help will be given to those who request it.

Contact Jim Dowton 850029 or Roy Davey 731154