ON THE THRESHOLD DECEMBER 2018
I spend lots of my time in doorways or waiting on the threshold. Doorways into life when I have the joy of meeting a family wanting their new baby to be christened – joyous time learning from them what becoming a family for the first time or adding another child to their family. The hospitality and kindness of the people I visit is something I treasure, but even with the privilege of walking alongside a child or an adult seeking baptism I’m aware of being on the threshold – this is their story I have the joy of walking with them; it is not my journey.
With couples wanting to be married whether in the joys of first love or taking the plunge and risk of commitment after past hurt being with people and discovering something about what love means to them and helping them take their courage and go through the doorway of commitment to each other is fun.
Alongside those who are dying and with those who love them is a more painful doorway and one where I am aware that much is hidden from sight. Here too there is privilege in being allowed to wait with other people as they cross this threshold.
Soon, I and the village communities I serve will be in the stable doorway: watching nativity plays; singing carols, preparing for the celebrations of Christmas. This threshold offers us the beginning of a journey with the God who became human in the baby at Bethlehem – I invite you, with me, to step anew through that doorway.
The Reverend Rachma Abbott Priest in Charge, Woodhill Benefice.
The Vicarage Clyffe Pypard, SWINDON SN4 7PY. 01793 731134
JOAN THOMSON NEE HATHERALL 1921 – 2018
It is with sadness that we say farewell to Joan Thompson, one of Broad Town’s longest living residents.
Joan came to Broad Town in 1928 aged 7 years when her family moved here from Swindon. Joan attended the village school and the village church where she became a Sunday School teacher and in 1952 was married to Peter Thomson. Peter was in the RAF and he and Joan spent a few years away from Broad Town before returning with their own family. Joan was still involved with activities in the village. She enjoyed talking to the school children about her memories of the war, was a ‘regular’ at Community and Church Coffee mornings and was still on the church flower rota – she decorated a window for this year’s harvest service. Joan loved writing poetry and many of her poems reflect her love for Broad Town.
Joan’s energy and inspiration will be missed by everyone.
BROAD TOWN PRESCHOOL
Invite residents of Broad Town to our NATIVITY DRESS REHEARSAL on Thursday 13th December at 10am. In the Village Hall. Please note the change of date from that quoted in the November Newsletter.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Dec 1st BT Church Christmas Coffee Morning
Dec 1st Bushton Christmas Fair
Dec 10th BT PC Meeting
Dec 11th Last Posting Date for Scout Post
Dec 12th Community Coffee Morning
Dec 12th School Class 1 Nativity
Dec 13th BT Pre-school Nativity Rehearsal - note change of date
Dec 13th BT Village Carol Service
Dec 14th BT School Christmas Fete
Dec 14th Village Carol Singing
Dec 21st BT School Carol Service
Jan 7th BT PC Meeting
Jan 9th Community Coffee Morning
Jan 23rd Community Coffee Morning
Jan 26th Gentlemen’s Breakfast Club
Jan 26th Moviola at Hilmarton
CHRIST CHURCH SAYS THANK YOU
On 21st October, Malcolm & Tracy Holland held an Open Garden - railway, big boy’s toys & cake event in memory of Simon Billis. This was very well supported with the proceeds being donated to the repair project at Christ Church. We are pleased to announce that, with Gift Aid recovery, we will benefit by over £500.
Our thanks go to Malcolm & Tracy and all who supported the event.
THANK YOU
A big “Thank You” to all those who lent articles to the Church for the Remembrance Exhibition. We were very pleased with the numbers of visitors. The aeroplane and doves, made by the school, were especially well liked. Our thanks also to Judy Conybeare for producing and installing the memorial wreaths to the fallen men of Broad Town that were displayed so poignantly throughout the village.
CHURCH FLOOR REPAIRS
Unfortunately our proposals for repairs to the Church floor have not been accepted. It was planned to fill the large void beneath the floorboards to prevent dampness in the future but this is not acceptable for conservation reasons. We have requested a revised specification from the Church architect and will in due course attempt to obtain the necessary approval to carry out the essential repairs as soon as possible.
CHRISTMAS COFFEE MORNING.
The Christmas Coffee Morning will be held in the Church on the 1st December from 10.00am to 12 Noon. There will be the usual delicious refreshments, Christmas stall, Children’s tombola and Phillip Male will be there with his beautiful pictures.
Fiona will be drawing both November and December 100 club winning numbers. Jenny Pepper will be there with her lovely cards and Clive will have the Scout Stamps for local post. Don’t forget there will be the draw for the main raffle of the year so come to buy your tickets.
Come and enjoy the company and the lovely food.
BROAD TOWN SCHOOL
Vacancy for Midday Supervisor at Broad Town CE Primary School.
The role is to supervise children while they eat their lunch and to encourage positive play in the playground.
Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs , Fri 12noon – 1pm 5 hours/week
Working with KS1 & KS2 children but must be flexible dependent on staffing.
Term Time only. Pay scale B7-B9 (£8.55-£8.68 per hour) depending on experience.
Start Date: as soon as possible. This is a permanent position but we can be flexible for the right candidate. If you are interested in this position then please contact the school office for an application form.
email: admin@broadtown.wilts.sch.uk Tel: 01793 731395
Broad Town School will be holding their annual Xmas Fete on Friday 14th December from 3:15pm onwards. There will be lots of stalls including a hamper raffle, refreshments and our school choir will be performing. No charge for entry.
COMMUNITY COFFEE MORNING
Held on 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month
Thank you to everyone who helped to raise £70 for Children in Need.
Future dates:
December 12th – Christmas coffee morning raising funds for the Brighter Futures Appeal. This appeal continues to raise money for a radiotherapy unit in Swindon and also new incubators for the Special care Baby Unit (SCBU) which enable parents to have more physical contact with their babies.
Please note this will be the only coffee morning in December.
January 2019 and a New Year welcome to all!
January 9th
January 23rd
Thank you for your support during 2018. Christmas Greetings to everyone and we look forward to seeing you in 2019.
WINE GLASSES
Broad Town Church have 96 wine glasses available to borrow (for a donation for Church Funds). Enquiries to Margaret Manley Tel: 731564
VILLAGE CAROL SINGING
Join us on Friday 14th December 6.30pm – starting and finishing at the Village Hall. We will be collecting for the Brighter Future Radiotherapy Unit and SCBU Incubator Appeals. All welcome (children must be accompanied by an adult). Wrap up warm and bring a torch.
Drinks and nibbles in Village Hall at 9pm.
BROAD TOWNHISTORYTHROUGH TIME
The Broad Town History Group would like to share with you the old photographs, stories and research the group has acquired over the years. If you would like to see what we’ve gathered to date please e-mail us on btresearch71@gmail.com and we will send you a link to the website.
The website is a work in progress because we know we’re missing some of the details of who is pictured and when the photographs were taken. Can you help fill any of these gaps? As the nights draw in please rummage around your attics and look at your family albums for any Broad Town related pictures. Can you help add new pictures? Or do you have any memories you would like to share?
If you see us out with cameras standing in peculiar places we’ll be attempting to stand in the same place to take an identical “now” picture to mirror what the original photographer saw.
If you have any questions or requests please get in touch with Malcolm on 01793 731567 or E-mail btresearch71@gmail.com THANK YOU.
PARISH COUNCIL UPDATE
The Parish Council would like to thank everyone in the parish for their support this year and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Parish Steward Scheme.
We were asked at our November meeting to provide a bit more information on what the parish steward scheme can do for us. Here is an extract from Wiltshire Council’s website - “Parish stewards carry out minor highways work which has been set for them by the local community. They are part of Wiltshire Council's £15m per year highways contract with Ringway Infrastructure Services Limited, which began on April 1st 2016. Since the start of the contract, 20 parish stewards have been recruited and trained to carry out this valued community service. The stewards will serve their own group of parish and town councils in the county, reporting issues and carrying out repairs and maintenance, providing a ‘one stop and done' service. They will prioritise the needs of their patch including roads, pathways, drainage and verge maintenance. Their remit could include painting railings, highways strimming and minor pothole repairs”.
The principle behind the scheme is that local communities are best placed to identify the smaller maintenance issues that need addressing. We want to ensure that we have a good long list of activity to keep our parish steward busy and regularly visiting Broad Town. If we don’t indicate work to be done he will go elsewhere. So if you see minor repairs required around the Village please send details to the Parish Clerk (broadtownparishclerk@gmail.com), these will be passed onto the Parish Steward for action. Please title your request ‘Parish Steward Work’ and remember the Steward only has access to hand/power tools.
Play Area – annual independent safety inspection
Every year we commission an independent safety inspection of the equipment in our Play Area at Redhills. We are very pleased to say that the report found all of the equipment to meet the requirements of the relevant standards. No areas of high risk were reported and the remedial actions required can be completed as part of general maintenance. We would like to thank a very kind volunteer from the village who has offered to attend to the main maintenance areas identified in the report. Thank you!
Council Tax Single Person Discount Review
Wiltshire Council has started a review of entitlement to the above discount which across the County reduces the tax take by more than £24m a year. The Council will be using a third party to check current applications for the discount so if you do receive a request to complete a new claim form then please do respond. If no response is received from a household then the council tax discount will be ended.
December meeting
The substantive item on the agenda for our December meeting will be budget setting for next year.
The date of the next Parish Council meeting is Monday 10th December at 6.30pm in the Village Hall. Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be provided. Our January meeting will be on Monday 7th January 2019 at 6.30pm.
THE FOUR WAYS COMMUNITY PUB, BROAD TOWN VILLAGE HALL
EVERY FRIDAY BAR 9pm-late – PLEASE NOTE NEW OPENING TIME: if there’s enough interest in going back to opening any earlier, we will, but for the last few months we’ve had very few customers before the little hand points at the 9! Official-size table tennis table, pool table, dartboard and table football – all FREE TO PLAY: if the kit isn’t out, just ask and we’ll get it all set up. Classic 60s-90s music videos or sports including rugby, racing, tennis & cricket on our two-metre cinema screen. Draught Wadworth 6X and Carlsberg pints from £2.50; wines, branded spirits & mixer from £2; fruit juice, squash, fizzy drinks, Aero hot chocolate, Tetley tea, Nescafe cappuccino, coffee & decaf; savoury snacks & sweeties always on sale. Our fully licensed bar is also available for your village hall event (at least three weeks’ notice usually required, cost negotiable depending on event’s scope/scale).
Contact: Trevor on 01793 731699 email t.hillier1@sky.com • ‘Like’ us on facebook.com/FourWaysBroadTown
BINGO EVERY SUNDAY – open 7.15pm; last ball 9pm.
We need you to support your local non-profit Bingo game: new faces especially welcome from outside Broad Town: We already have regulars from Purton, Wroughton, RWB, Devizes. Unlike commercial games, every pound you flutter is returned to our players in worthwhile cash winnings: prizes can be as much as £60. More players = bigger prizes! Never played Bingo? Doesn’t matter: it’s easy for beginners – we’ll show you how!
FESTIVE OPENING HOURS December 2018.
BAR open Friday 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th as usual.
BINGO Sunday 2nd, 9th, 16th Xmas Bingo and Draw 6.15pm start; NO BINGO on Sunday 23rd and Sunday 30th.
January 2019 – bar and bingo open as normal.
BROAD TOWN VILLAGE FACEBOOK PAGE
We now have over 160 followers! Join to share village photos, community notices, event reminders and as-it-happens neighbourhood info such as road closures, lost pets, police bulletins etc. Advertise your local business for free, or publicise your services such as dog-walking, baby-sitting etc. We also welcome quality items for sale: recent bargains have included a van and some nice shelving! Don’t worry if your message takes a few minutes to appear on the main page – we’ve had a lot of spam recently: anyone can post in the side-bar, all relevant messages are always shared with the main page by one of our admins. www.facebook.com/Broadtown
PROSPECT BOXES
The amount collected in Broad Town in November was £360.05.and we have been asked by the hospice to thank everyone who contributed, for their continued support. We always have boxes waiting to be filled so if you would like to have one for your loose change, please contact your local collector, Margaret Manley, Tel: 731564
SWINDON & DISTRICT SCOUT CHRISTMAS POST 2018
This facility, which by law, is only for the delivery of Christmas Cards, is again being provided this year as in previous years. The cost of the special stamp is still 30p (now self-adhesive). They can be purchased in Royal Wootton Bassett from Bevirs, Solicitors, High Street; Haines & Smith, Opticians, High Street; News Plus, Gainsborough Avenue; Radway’s the Cobblers, The Arcade, High Street & Rootz, Hairdressers, Woodshaw. The last date for posting mail into the Scout Post is TUESDAY 11th DEC at 4pm and all items must be posted in the special green post boxes which can be found at Sainsbury’s, Borough Fields, Haines & Smith, Radway’s, News Plus & Rootz. Please DO NOT USE Scout Post stamps on cards posted through Royal Mail post boxes. They are not valid and the receiver will have to pay a surcharge.
The area covered for delivery of Scout Post is: -
Swindon, Badbury, Bishopstone, Blunsdon, Burderop, Chiseldon, Draycott Foliat, Elcombe, Hannington, Highworth, Hinton Parva, Hodson, Inglesham, Langton Park, Liddington, Overton, Red Barn, South Leaze, South Marston, Stanton Fitzwarren, Stratton St Margaret, Thorney Park, Wanborough, West Leaze, Wichelstowe, Wroughton, Royal Wootton Bassett, Purton, Lydiard Millicent, Greatfield, Greenhill, Hook, Broad Town, Bushton, Clyffe Pypard, Tockenham, Cricklade, Latton, Ashton Keynes, Broad Hinton, Berwick Bassett, Uffcott, Winterbourne Bassett, Winterbourne Monkton, Shrivenham, Watchfield, Bourton, Idstone, Ashbury, Kingston Winslow.
In addition, stamps are available from Clive Green, 5 Eastwood Avenue, Royal Wootton Bassett. Tel No. 01793 854200 cliveggreen@waitrose.com
GENTLEMAN’S BREAKFAST CLUB
The Gentleman’s Full English Breakfast Club will NOT meet in December 2018.
All being well, there will be a meeting at the end of January 2019 at the REME Museum Crown’s café at MOD Lyneham. Details of the talk then are not arranged but I am sure Dave will have further details in the new year. 9am for 9:30am start as usual. The cost? – still only £7pp. + a bottle raffle.
Contact David May, davemay104@yahoo.co.uk if you would like to be sent further details when available or to attend.
BROAD TOWN WI
We are a friendly group and are always happy to welcome new members. If you are unsure if the WI is right for you why not give it a go? Our meetings are generally held in the Village Hall on the third Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm. We are on the Broad Town Village website and on Facebook where you can find details of upcoming speakers and events. If you would like more information please call Annette on 01793 739021.
HELP!!!!!
Sitting in my office it is really chilly today. Frost season is upon us and on goes the heating. More people than you think struggle with the cost of heating. For those of us in the rural villages, we rely on electricity or oil, both of which are expensive and oil purchases mean careful budgeting to afford the cost of filling the tank! Although cheaper, gas is expensive too. It’s wonderful that at this time of year Wiltshire Community Foundation run their Surviving Winter Grants which collects funds from those who would like to donate and ensure that the money is distributed to those in need. See the information in the magazine and please do contact me for more information.
To be eligible for a grant someone must;
be considered to live in fuel poverty (spend more than 10% of their annual household income on fuel to keep their home warm and in a 'satisfactory' condition)
be in receipt of eligible means-tested benefits
And fall into one of the categories below;
be pensionable age and affected by fuel poverty.
be of working age with a disability or a long-term health condition which affects their ability to keep warm.
be in receipt of Better 2gether childcare funding for their 2 year old.
Please get in touch if I can help with any of the above.
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.
Ellen Blacker - Health & Wellbeing Champion
Malmesbury, Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade Community Areas.
OIL HEATING IN BROAD TOWN AND SURROUNDING VILLAGES
My name is Ben Davis - my family and I moved to Broad Town just over three years ago. We are really enjoying living in the Village.
I am a plumbing and heating engineer, registered with OFTEC (for oil) and Gas Safe (for gas). Going forward, I would like to reduce the amount of time spent driving (and sitting in traffic) around North Wiltshire and increase my local customer base.
My services include: Boiler breakdown and repairs, annual boiler servicing, boiler and oil tank replacement, general heating faults and maintenance, and general plumbing. Please feel free to call me anytime for further information.
01793 317758 or 07920 042880
HILMARTON MOVIOLA
There is no film in December. Details of the film on January 26th can be obtained from Geoff Procter. Email hilmartonmoviola@hotmail.co.uk
BROAD TOWN PAINTER & DECORATOR
Hi Just thought I’d remind all of you that I’m in the Village. It’s Glen Morley the Painter and Decorator. I undertake interior and exterior work, to a very high standard. Everything is completed to the level I would have in my own home. Please feel free to call me at any time for a free consultation and VAT free estimate. My numbers are: Landline: 01793 739227 Mobile: 07545 573002. Please leave a message if I’m unable to answer.
LOUISE – GIRL FRIDAY
Never-ending to-do list? Not enough hours in the day? Too much paperwork? Need a spare pair of hands? LET ME HELP!
Hi, I’ve lived in Broad Town for over 15 years and have a broad range of skills covering both business/office experience and practical, hands-on abilities.
If you need help with services such as: business support; de-cluttering & waste removal; Personal Assistant/Secretary; typing; general housekeeping; IT assistance, PowerPoint presentations; party invitations; garden maintenance; Excel spreadsheets painting; pet/horse care; general errand running, or anything else - please ask!
If I can’t do it, I’ll try and find someone who can.
I have full DBS/CRB clearance and £1m public liability insurance and references are available.
Examples of rates are available on my web site www.louisegirlfriday.co.uk. Please email louise@louisegirlfriday.co.uk or call 07748 752625 (land line 731858) to discuss your requirements. Thank you. Louise.
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.
DISCLAIMER
Broad Town Newsletter (BTN) takes all reasonable care to ensure that pages published are accurate. Articles and letters submitted may be the personal opinion of the author and, as such, are not endorsed by BTN. BTN takes no responsibility for the consequences of error or for any loss or damage suffered by users of any of the information published on any of these pages, and such information does not form any basis of a contract with readers or users of it.