THE Community Magazine for the PARISHES OF MARTLEY AND WICHENFORD WWW.MARTLEY.ORG.UK illager The V 60p May 2020 x Lots of news inside this edition, including; x Central Stores; News and delivery service information; x Great Witley and Knightwick GP Surgeries; x Local Help and Support; Contact details for Martley and Wichenford; x Covid-19 Social Distancing recommendations; and x A Trip Down Memory Lane
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illager V · 2020-04-30 · Fairview, Willow Rd, Martley 07802874999 [email protected] ... THE LOCKSMITH 01905 570 999 07871 44 20 11 Your Local Reliable Independent Locksmith
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THE Community Magazine for thePARISHES OF MARTLEY AND WICHENFORD
WWW.MARTLEY.ORG.UK
illagerTheV
60p May 2020
R
Lots of news inside this edition, including;
Central Stores; News and delivery service information; Great Witley and Knightwick GP Surgeries;
Local Help and Support; Contact details for Martley and Wichenford; Covid-19 Social Distancing recommendations; and
A Trip Down Memory Lane
BroomfieldsFARM SHOP
Fruit growers for 4 generationswith a farm shop open to the public
Fresh local vegetables. eggs, cheese,bread, milk, preserves, meats & juices
For your free consultation, contact Tiggy Tonks on 0077993322 006666666644 or mmbboolloo..ll ii ffeessttyyllee@@ggmmaaii ll ..ccoomm FFuunncctt iioonnaa ll FF ii ttnneessss –– SStt rreennggtthh –– MMoobbii ll ii tt yy –– WWeeiigghhtt LLoossss
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Guidance on social distancing for everyone in the UK (taken from www.gov.uk website on 18th April 2020—information correct at time of publication)
What is social distancing? Social distancing measures are steps you can take to reduce social interaction
between people. This will help reduce the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). They are to:
• Avoid contact with someone who
is displaying symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19). These symptoms include high temperature and/or new and continuous cough
• Avoid non-essential use of public transport when possible
• Work from home, where possible. Your employer should support you to do this. Please refer to employer guidance for more information
• Avoid large and small gatherings in public spaces, noting that pubs, restaurants, leisure centres and similar venues are currently shut as infections spread easily in closed spaces where people gather
together. • Avoid gatherings with friends and
family. Keep in touch using remote technology such as phone,
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OUT AND ABOUT IN MARTLEY Visit our website—www.martley.org.uk
The Villager May 2020
internet, and social media • Use telephone or online services
to contact your GP or other essential services
Everyone should be trying to follow these measures as much as is practicable. We strongly advise you to follow the above measures as much as you can and to significantly limit your face-to-face interaction with friends and family if possible, particularly if you: • are over 70 • have an underlying health
condition
• are pregnant This advice is likely to be in place for some weeks. Its important that you are up to date with the latest news and advice. #Stayhome #protectthenhs #savelifes
Recipe for Lockdown This recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law over 40 years ago. It was given to her by one of her closest friends. It seems an appropriate choice as it was originally a war time recipe when fresh eggs were hard to come by. I have made a few minor changes along the way. CHOCOLATE STICKY CAKE 6 oz (175g) self-raising flour - sieved 3 oz (75g) sugar 2 dessertspoons cocoa powder - sieved 2 dessertspoons golden syrup 2 oz (50g) lard (I now use Trex or white flora) 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 2 dessertspoons vinegar (I use white, but malt is OK) Teacup of milk
Method Line bottom of sandwich tins. Melt Trex and syrup in basin (a microwave works as well as on the hob)Mix all dry ingredients in separate bowl Dissolve soda in milk Add milk mixture/syrup mixture to dry ingredients and mix well Add vinegar last Bake in moderate oven (approx. 160C) for about 20 minutes. (To do a sandwich cake, I normally double the recipe and sandwich together with chocolate spread, then top with chocolate (or buttercream). The choice is yours. Alternatively do as a traybake. I also reduce the amount of sugar from the original recipe). Many people give me a funny look when I tell them there is vinegar in the recipe, but there is no after taste in the cake. The vinegar reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to produce a gas, which acts as the raising agent. For this reason, I often call this my “Chemistry Cake”! Have fun and enjoy.
Carol Garrett
Martley Central Stores News Central Stores Latest and Current Opening Hours Monday - Friday Shop Post Office 7.30am - 7.00pm 8.30am 6.00pm Saturday 8.00 am - 7.00pm 8.30am— 6.00pm Sunday 8.30am - 1.00pm Closed We are keeping to our usual times but are closing briefly at 1.15pm for around half an hour to clean down, restock and swap teams. We are running a morning team and an afternoon team who don’t mix so
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if anybody becomes ill we have the capacity to remain open with the opposite shift hopefully fit and well ! The Best Team in the World !! Our team have been amazing and we can’t thank them enough for battling on when they may well prefer to be safely at home with their families. They have shown great flexibility and dedication. The students merit a particular mention as they have been on standby to rush in and unload lorries which can turn up with no notice. We are also very grateful to Louise who has kindly volunteered to deliver newspapers to customers unable to leave their homes. This is much appreciated and we know she is keeping an eye on their well being too - many thanks ! Stock Availability We have had a challenging month but sometimes the shelves are full ! As an independent member of the Costcutter group we are now supplied by Co-op so we might have expected things to have settled down by now. Instead we don’t know what deliveries are coming when and which categories we might expect. Luckily our local suppliers have been amazing and have often filled the gaps. Quality Crust, our amazing bakers from Droitwich, have turned up at 5am with great bread very day - even when Warburtons have let us down. Loafers of Bromyard and the Talbot Bakery have also been fantastic despite struggling for staff and supplies. To name check a few more ‘Local Heroes’ Legges the Butchers, MacNeills the Smokers, Crown Eggs, Lightwood and Croome cheeses, Mr Bufton and Pershore Produce vegetables, Mr Hanson’s
potatoes, Richard Jackman’s honey, Wye Valley Breweries and over 20 more small local businesses are helping us keep full. We have tried to focus on fresh fruit and vegetables with a mix of Co-op and locally sourced product. The local purple sprouting and rhubarb are great and by the time you read this Phil Owen’s Little Witley asparagus will be hopefully ready ! Delivery Service We are delivering on Tuesdays and Fridays to local addresses. You can email [email protected] before 10am on your selected delivery day or call us on 01886 888728 with your wish list. As our deliveries are patchy and our range fluid, we will always do our best but if you trust us to substitute we can fulfil most orders. We charge £3 for up to 3 miles and £5 for further afield. We have a mobile chip and pin so we can take payment on your doorstep. Alternatively we can do click and collect so email or ring an order through and when you come to the shop we can bring the card machine out to you whilst you stay safely in your car. Products in Short Supply. As I write toilet roll, kitchen roll, cleaning fluids, sanitiser and washing up liquid seem to be back on track but pasta, flour, tissues and some canned goods are proving tricky. Every day we search through availability lists to see what we can substitute but no doubt as you read this things will have changed again. Alcohol has been problematic so we just order what is available on any particular day. Luckily chocolate seems largely unaffected !
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Central Garage 01886 888710 Monday - Friday 8am -5pm and Saturday 8am -12 noon. We are one of the few garages in the area to remain open and we hope to continue do so if you support us. We feel very strongly that we need to ensure there is local help, if required, especially for all the Key Workers. Stewart and Julian are currently furloughed leaving Tim to hold the fort with a bit of help from Ed. We can still MOT and service and get tyres and batteries, and Tim is working extra hard to find parts as most dealerships are closed. We can of course collect and return any cars from your home and our mobile chip and pin can come with us for payment if required. We can check your tyres, oil and screen wash. Please don’t try and self serve fuel as the boys are gloved up to stay safe. Sarah, Nick and the team would like to thank all our customers for their patience and for following the social distancing instructions and hope we all see this through safely together. Editors note; I am sure you will all join me in saying a MASSIVE thank you to Sarah, Nick and the whole team at our wonderful local village shop. You are all doing a fantastic job to support your local communities. Well done to you all!
Gail, Editor
Coffee Mornings for Charity Unfortunately we cannot give you a report on Martley’s Coffee Mornings for Charity at the moment for obvious reasons! We cannot wait to get back to our Saturday morning meetings although
when that will be is unknown. We hope you have all been able to make the most of the enforced time at home. There are going to be an awful lot of very tidy cupboards and drawers when we get back to ‘normal’ - whenever that may be! How lucky we are to have a thriving village store and post office to see us through the difficult times. Thank you to all of you for continuing to work and provide us with a very valuable service. Back to the Coffee Mornings. You may or may not know that Jan and Mandy unwittingly began the charity coffee mornings several years ago. They wanted to support the Macmillan Biggest Coffee Morning appeal and decided to have a coffee morning in the Memorial Hall which was very well supported and enjoyed by all. It proved to be such a great event that they were asked if they would consider holding a regular coffee morning and happily they agreed, just as long as they could rely on a little help with setting up! Of course, there is always someone in Martley who will step up so a little band of helpers gathered together to put on the next coffee morning, and the rest, as they say, is history! Jan and Mandy do most of the cooking for the coffee mornings and produce some spectacularly tasty treats. Pat Finch also enjoys cooking for the monthly event and her sausage rolls are snapped up with glee. Cakes are also brought in by our visitors and we are very grateful for these donations. The atmosphere in the hall is greatly enhanced by the lovely table decorations provided each time by Dorrie Goodyear. Seasonal blooms are picked fresh from her garden and arranged by Dorrie for each table. These are enjoyed by
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everyone, including those deserving visitors who are invited to take a bunch or two home with them. The raffle must be one of the best at any village event. How generous everyone is and each coffee morning is rounded off with the excitement of wondering if your ticket will bag a prize. Pat Owen also takes this opportunity to make the monthly draw for the 100 Club. All this, coupled with time to chat with friends, old and new, makes for a very convivial morning. Many comments have been made about the lovely atmosphere felt on these Saturday mornings and what a special thing it is so we hope we can get back to providing it again soon. Of course, a special part of all this is the funds raised for the charities and these are going to be much needed in the months ahead. Thank you for supporting us every month. We miss you and look forward to seeing you again soon.
Janet, Mandy and Jan
Memorial Hall 100 Club We had the monthly draw after our Jury Lane 'Clap, bang drums, bells and everyone singing You'll Never Walk Alone on Thursday evening. The lucky winner was Angela Pearce, who had her last win in 2009! How's that for a brilliant Memorial Hall supporter! Thanks again 100 Clubbers. Keep well and safe.
Pat Owen
Shakespeareans Like all regularly meeting groups the Shakespeareans group has temporarily ceased until the Covid 19 crisis has
passed. Hopefully the group will reconvene in September. In the meantime I have prepared extensive notes on Henry 4th, Part 2 and directed the group to a free on line film of the play available on BritBox which applies provided you remember to cancel your free subscription after 30 days trial! Some group members are conducting discussions on the play text via WhatsApp and email. It is proposed that a Zoom meeting takes place and we are about to experiment with that idea. The purpose of the meeting, beside to gather together in a virtual environment, is to read and discuss a selection of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. I enclose Sonnet 29 by way of illustration and for the pleasure of sharing it with The Villager readers. ‘When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heav’n with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope, With what I most enjoy contented least: What in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising, From sullen earth sings hymns at heaven’s gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings.’ Sonnet 29, William Shakespeare
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This is a popular sonnet, which I have recently heard read several times on Radio 4 and published in magazines and newspapers. I assume it is because some of the sentiments seem most appropriate at the present time, for example – ‘I all alone beweep my outcast state, and trouble deaf heav’n with my bootless cries…’ ! However the true intention of the writer reveals the speaker feeling lonely and outcast and envying the talent of others until he remembers his friend whose love compensates for everything so that the sonnet ends on an upbeat and hopeful note – ‘That then I scorn to change my state with kings.’ I like the positivity and the call to try to remember something good and valued in some part of your life so as to raise the spirits.
Janet Anderson Kaye, Group Leader
Garden Bonfires As we are all Staying at Home, Protecting the NHS and Saving Lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many residents around our two parishes are spending time in their gardens and renovating their houses, we thought it might be a good time to remind everyone about the rules and regulations set our by the government on ‘Garden Bonfires’. Here’s what the Government state on the www.gov.uk website; There are no laws against having a bonfire, but there are laws for the nuisance they can cause. Burning domestic waste You cannot get rid of household waste if it will cause pollution or harm people’s health. This includes burning it. You can get rid of household or garden waste by
composting or recycling it. Contact your local council to find out how to dispose of garden waste and about recycling in your area. Complain about a neighbour’s bonfire Your local council can issue an ‘abatement notice’ if a neighbour’s bonfire is causing a nuisance. A bonfire must happen frequently to be considered a nuisance. Your neighbour can be fined up to £5,000 if they don’t follow the rules of the notice. You can find out more information here; www.gov.uk/garden-bonfires-rules
Pudford Lane In the worrying times we are living in at the present, I think all of us in Pudford Lane and everyone in Martley, Wichenford and the surrounding villages are so lucky to be living in such beautiful countryside as lockdown continues. I am sure all the farmers in the two parishes are pleased to be appreciated, but we are lucky because we are doing what we do every day of the year and we love it (well most of the time!). I think John Richards would say the same, it’s the doctors, nurses and all the other health care workers that need all the credit. We must also not forget the fantastic support our armed forces have provided, building hospitals in the large exhibition spaces and lately flying much needed PPE equipment into the UK. I’ve always said, the people you can’t do without are farmers for food, police for law and order, armed forces for peace and most importantly our health care workers. I would also like to thank Nick and Sarah and all their staff for doing an amazing job in providing us with all the supplies we need in our village shop. Thanks also to
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Stewart, Tim and Julian in the garage providing a brilliant service for our vehicles. I’m not mixing much these days, but Fi goes down to the shop and garage and I can’t believe the goodies she comes back with, I’ve never been so well fed! I hope we can all keep supporting our local businesses when we get back to ‘normal’ whatever that proves to be! On a more positive note, we had a good lambing, you could not have wished for better weather, although some nights were a bit chilly at 2am or 3am in the morning and all you wanted to do was be asleep in a nice warm bed! We’ve lambed 260 ewes of which 240 lambed in two and a half weeks so we were kept rather busy and didn’t really notice the start of lockdown. We’ve got 38 ‘tiddlers’ on the shepherdess bucket feeders, these are mainly one of triplets we’ve had to take off and then you always get some problems which mean you have to take a lamb off and put on the feeder. I think we had to have the vet out three times this lambing, we always think of and miss David Denny at this time of year. The practice we are now using is a large one and if you mention David, they all say they’ve heard he was a bit of a character, but that he has a reputation of being an excellent and very knowledgeable vet. There are always some enjoyable moments in farming and especially when you can save a lamb’s life. I went out at 2 o’clock one morning and found a little lamb who thought he was at the seaside and would go for a paddle in the water tank, his head was just showing, he certainly would not have lasted much longer! Then there was the lamb who must have gone to sleep in the hay feeder and I can only assume that when a ewe
pulled a wad of hay, he was pulled too and his neck got caught and twisted round one of the bars. When I found him, he was on his last breath but apart from being able to only see backwards for a couple of days with his twisted neck, he made a complete recovery. However, nothing compares to the lamb that got stuck in a four hundred year old oak tree a couple of years ago and Fi said, “You’ll have to cut the tree down” which amused me because she was serious but it was a very large tree and totally impractical to cut down! I did however get the chainsaw and by making the hole larger where he had gone in, Fi could just manage to grab the lamb’s leg and drag it out. As you can imagine there was huge relief all round especially for the lamb when it was re-united with its mother. Lambing has been strangely quiet this year without our regular visitors, children love seeing the lambs and even our grandson Rufus hasn’t been able to visit. It doesn’t seem the same without Paul, Tracy and family and the Pinches family popping round to check up on progress. The oak is out before the ash this spring,
so it looks like a dry hot summer is on the
cards according to the old saying. You
will be holidaying in the garden this year,
so go and buy a new lounger and a big hat
– that’s to keep you dry, because I’m
probably wrong and it will end up raining
most of the time!!
Alan and Fi Jeffries
LinC All future LinC get togethers have been postponed. We will let you know when we are restarting these.
Thanks, Jen
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Knightwick, Great Witley & Tenbury surgeries are working together as The Rurals Primary Care Network, to provide the best possible care to all our patients during the Coronavirus outbreak. If you need medical advice, your GP will triage and assess you. If the GP decides you need to be seen, you will be advised on the arrangements for this to take place. Thank you for your co-operation during this time.
GREAT WITLEY SURGERY—01299 896788 In order to enable us to stay open, keep both our staff and patients safe and to continue to provide a service to our patients, we have made the following changes to our services. If you do need medical advice, please call the surgery on 01299 896788 and you will be offered a telephone consultation. If the GP decides you need to be seen, you will be informed of the arrangements for this to take place. When collecting prescriptions please come to the window which is clearly marked and ring the bell, one of our members of staff will then get your medication for you. PLEASE REMEMBER TO RESPECT THE 2 METRE DISTANCE RULE BETWEEN YOURSELF AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. If you do pay for medication we would ask that you pay by card if possible, however we will still take cash payments if needed. If you do not wish to get out of your car, please call the surgery on 01299 896788 to tell us you are here to collect your medication and one of our members of staff will bring your prescription out to you. Thank you for your co-operation during this time. KNIGHTWICK SURGERY—01886 821279 Thank you for your support and cooperation during the Covid-19 outbreak. We may need to ask you to make changes to the way you normally access our Services, but please be assured our staff remain committed to looking after all our patients in the safest way possible during this challenging time. We are now assessing all patients by phone. If you need to speak to a GP, please call reception in the usual way and you will be booked in for a telephone consultation. If you are collecting medication from the surgery, please ring us from your car and we will take payment (if relevant) and bring your order out to you. Medication can be collected daily between 10 am - 2 pm and 4 pm - 6 pm. We have a wide range of information on our website explaining how we are looking after patients and staff during the Coronavirus crisis. There are also links to useful websites and support pages. If you can’t find the information you need, please call the surgery and we will do our best to help. Stay safe everyone.
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Footpaths With all this lovely weather and with most of us being confined to our homes, we wanted to remind everyone, that wherever possible, when you are out and about, walking and / or walking your dogs enjoying our magnificent country-side, to keep to designated footpaths where ever possible. Please also remember it is lambing season, so its really important to keep your dogs on leads at all times! The Path or Nones have been looking after Martley’s paths since 1985 and have some very useful information on their website; www.thepathornones.co.uk The Parish of Martley in Worcestershire has a network of footpaths made up of 296 separate links, total length around 42 miles (60km footways, 7km bridle-ways). These were registered as public rights of way following passing of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949. In recent years more and more interest has been shown in opening and maintaining these paths all over the country, after all, as a walker you have as much right to be on the footpath as you do on any public road. Around 1985, a group of volunteers was established under the leadership of Mr Keith Trumper, the first appointed Foot-paths Officer of Martley parish. The pur-pose of the group was to open up local rights of way, often in poor condition, for all to enjoy, and in this the group has been singularly successful. Martley is well known to have one of the most complete and well signposted networks anywhere in the County. The Path-or-Nones do not organise
walks, this is left to others, but they have produced a set of pamphlets for circular walks in the parish. There are 10 lovely walks which are available to download and print out ranging from a leisurely 1.2 mile walk to a longer 4.5 mile walk.
Home Schooling Idea! Are you reading the online Villager - well, here’s something that anyone can try! This is another tool that can be used for including Earth Science in home school-ing, The Deep Time project has devel-oped smartphone apps that take the user on a geological voyage of discovery in deep time. There are two apps; Voyager and GeoExplore GeoExplore This is designed for data collection on field trips, but Voyager is really well-illustrated and can be used at home on the interactive app, or the voyages can be viewed online on the website. The website does also have extras though; drone filming, sounds, picture galleries, etc.. Details here: www.deeptime.voyage Apps here: www.deeptime.voyage/apps-org/ Information on how to use the Voyager app is here: www.deeptime.voyage/voyager-app Although youngsters often just touch everything and learn how to use it quick-ly enough! Voyager This is aimed at 10 - 15 year olds and tourists or adults with no geological background. Younger children can enjoy
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Coronavirus: how you can help Most people who are infected with the corona-virus will recover. But some people are in danger. These include those over the age of 70 and those (of any age) who have significant health problems. It is important for these groups to avoid contact with other people. Many rely on friends or neighbours to get their shopping and medication, but there are some who do not have family or friends living nearby. These people need your help. The following people are co-ordinating voluntary work: Martley Stuart and Marion Cumella. Please contact them by email at [email protected] or by phone at 0794 686 9882.
Wichenford Brian and Carol Garrett, by phone at 01886 888603 or by email at [email protected].
Kenswick Georgina Britten Long by email [email protected] Please provide them with: The names of people you know about who live in the Parish and who are at risk and who may need someone to buy food or collect medication. The names of people you know about who are at risk and who are lonely and who would appreciate a phone call. Your contact details if you can act as volunteer to get food or medication, or phone people who are lonely.
There is a rota in Martley for collecting medication for people registered with the GP Practice in Knightwick. If you are unable to collect medication, please contact Janet Dale at 01886 888472, or email at: [email protected].
Central Stores in Martley are offering a delivery service. They charge £3 for up to 3 miles and £5 for further afield. To place an order, please email [email protected] or phone 01886 888728 between 8am and 10am.
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the illustrations and could understand the content with adult help. A map shows a route around an area of countryside, illus-trated information screens explain what is seen, reconstructions of past environ-ments, including sounds bring the past to life, and a game of survival in deep time can be played by answering questions. The app is GPS located - when you down-load it, it knows where you are and nor-mally only allows the questions to be an-swered if you are on location. To disable this feature, so that you can look at eve-rything and answer the questions at home, select the Help tab at the bottom of the app screen, scroll to the end to find purple padlock. Touch this and it will ask for a four digit code - this is always to-day's date, so today enter 2803. You can now return to the other tabs and play the game. Also - be sure to touch the clock at the top of the screen - it not only tells you the time, but will take you back in time - you can scroll through the entire geologi-cal time frame and see what happened when. GeoExplore This is aimed at A' level students and oth-ers with some geological background. It provides a tools for gathering geological data in the field on a field trip of your own, and some optional guided field trips.
Julie Harold, Geology Trust via The Teme Valley Geological Society
Earth Learning Geology Trust is part of the Earth Learning Idea team and they produce free activities to teach Earth science to school children. If you are having to home school or know others who are, this is a fantastic tool to use right now, and maybe give
Earth science a boost in the home curriculum! www.earthlearningidea.com This website is run entirely voluntarily by Chris King, Elizabeth Devon and myself and currently has more than 300 Earth Science activities. Activities use a com-mon format, are completely free and are easy to download and use.
Dave Cropp Teme Valley Geological Society
Apologies In the April Villager magazine, an error was printed in respect of John Barker. The correct ‘In Memoriam’ is below. Sincere apologies to John’s family and friends.
In Memoriam The burial of ashes of John Edward Barker took place at St Laurence, Wichen-ford on 17th March 2020.
Cob House News We hope that this edition of The Villager finds you all well and safe. From everyone here, THANK YOU to all the Key Workers, each and every one of you, you really are amazing. You are do-ing a fantastic job in an incredibly difficult and unprecedented time and we cannot thank you enough. As soon as it is safe to do so, we will be opening again, so please look out for events! Follow us on Face-book (Cob House Country Park & Mayfly Café) and visit our website www.cobhouse.org to keep up to date. In the meantime, could we please ask that you do not come onto the Cob House site. Whilst we appreciate that it is a tranquil place to be, we need to ensure that we can continue to care for our animals and the whole site in general, in complete safely without any risk to our-selves or others. Thank you, we appreciate your help. We look forward to seeing you all again very soon, please stay home and stay safe.
The Team at Cob House Country Park
Wichenford 100 Club Winners March 2020 No. 72 C Wardle £50.00 No. 136 L Watson £15.00 No. 63 J Matthews £10.00 Drawn by Heather Rendall, Thanks for all
your support.
Thank you A great big thank you to everyone who has been helping out, in whatever way, during this time, including all those con-nected with the Parish Council Communi-ty Network, particularly the shoppers, prescription collectors and those who pick up the phone to have a chat with people on their own to brighten their day. Thank you to the Wichenford Nursing Association, Wichenford Next Door and the Wichenford WhatsApp Group and all those people who are busy sewing for the NHS and those who have donated materi-al. Thank you to all the children (and adults?!) who have drawn, coloured or painted the wonderful rainbows dis-played in our windows. Many thanks also to the local shops in Martley and Hallow, together with Broomfields and Top Barn Farm Shop, Checketts of Ombersley and Chim Doo. Apologies for any one omitted from the list, as I know there are many people busy, beavering away in the back-ground unknown to us. Despite the terri-ble things that have been happening, it is so good to know that the community can pull together when it really matters. Please don’t forget to show your appreci-ation for the NHS and all the keyworkers, including the carers, postmen, refuse col-lectors and milkmen at 8:00 p.m. each Thursday evening. Remember to clap and bring along your cowbells, saucepans and
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Over the Garden Wall in Wichenford, Wichenford Needs Your News!
Call Carol Garrett on 01886 888603 www.kenswick-wichenford-pc.org
football rattles, just for good measure! Carol Garrett
The Bluebell It is the time of year when normally the Bluebell Cross Country Fun Ride takes place. It is also a time when friends and family often go for a walk in their local wood to see the wonderful display of bluebells. Sadly, this cannot happen in the present climate, so I hope instead, you enjoy reading about this beautiful little flower. THE BLUEBELL The most popular meaning of the bluebell is humility and it is also associated with everlasting love and constancy. Bluebells are known as harebells in Scotland be-cause it was believed that witches turned into hares and hid amongst the flowers. Common names: English bluebell, British bluebell, wild hyacinth, cuckoo’s boots, granfer griggles, witches’ thimbles, lady’s nightcap and fairy flower. Flowering season: mid-April to late May. Where found: broadleaf woodland, fields, along hedgerows. Their greatest densities are in the UK’s woods where many thou-sands of bulbs can exist in one woodland, creating incredible blue carpets we fondly associate with spring, What do bluebells look like? The flowers of the British bluebell are usually deep violet-blue in colour, (although some can be white or pink). They are bell-shaped with six petals and turned-up tips. The sweet-smelling flowers nod or droop to one side of the flowering stem and have creamy white-coloured pollen inside. The leaves are narrow and strap-shaped, smooth and hairless, with a pointed tip. Not to be confused with: The Spanish bluebell, which is similar to the British
bluebell. However, Spanish bluebells grow upright, with flowers all around the stem, not drooping to one side like the British bluebell. The petals of each bell open wider and flare at the ends on the Spanish blue, unlike our native flower whose petals curl at the ends. Mythology and symbolism: There are numerous folklore tales surrounding blue-bells, many of which involve dark fairy magic. Bluebell woods are believed to be intricately woven with fairy enchant-ments, used by these mischievous beings to trap humans. If you pick a bluebell, many believe you will be led astray by fairies, wandering lost forever. Uses of bluebells: Bluebells have been used for a variety of purposes throughout history. Their sticky sap was once used to bind the pages of books and glue the feathers onto arrows. During Elizabethan times their bulbs were crushed to make starch for the ruffs of collars and sleeves. Due to their poisonous nature, there has been little use for bluebells in modern medicine. However, their bulbs have diu-retic (increases urination) and styptic (helps to stop bleeding) properties, and research on how these flowers could po-tentially help fight cancer is ongoing. Value to wildlife: Many insects reap the benefits of bluebells which flower earlier than many other plants. Woodland butterflies, bees and hoverflies all feed on their nectar. Bees can “steal” the nectar from bluebells by biting a hole in the bottom of the flower, reaching the nectar without the need to pollinate the flower. Conservation The bluebell is protected under the Wild-life and Countryside Act (1981). It is illegal to pick, uproot or destroy them. Finally, the bluebell is an indicator of an-
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cient woodland; woodland that has been around for so long it has developed spe-cial communities of plants and animals not found elsewhere. It’s an important habitat and much in need of protection. So, I hope you’ve caught, or will catch a glimpse of this beautifully simple, fra-grant flower when you are out having your daily exercise. (With thanks to the Woodland Trust for
some of the facts above)
Here’s our first Nostalgic editorial….written by the lovely Kate King Taken from the March 2011 Villager magazine
Pudford Lane Tweets Spring flowers are appearing in spite of the continuing cold and icy weather. The
glacier still continues to come and go but not as badly as in December. The moles have been very active and the orchard is a mass of black heaps, very good for pot-ting seedlings. We search carefully but have not found any ancient coins to date. Just as well really, because we do not want Time Team arriving! Due to gov-ernment cutbacks DEFRA/Natural Eng-land appear to have lost interest in SSSIs but we shall continue to care for ours as before. How do the birds know when it is the weekend of the RSPB Big Bird Count? The usual large numbers on the bird feeders are surprisingly absent. Do they hear about it on TWITTER? (Sorry!)
Kate King
Martley News—May 1996 A lovely selections of editorials featuring some wonderful residents of who some are sadly, no longer with us…..
Martley News
Beautiful Borders You may well remember in November last year we had a work party to clear the border kindly ‘loaned to the Village Hall by Mrs. Parry. On the 21st March, Helen Thomas and the House Committee were at it again! This time they have completed planting the whole area with some superb plants which will give us a ‘Beautiful Border’ in Spring next year. Dr Parnell has created the masterplan and after Harry King organised the pro-ject, we had generous donations from both residents and businesses. We owe our thanks to so many but in particular; Ruth Leach, Michelle Hig-gins, Margaret Parry, Wendy and Ted Davis, Joy and Reg Snow, Kate and Har-ry King, Pat Finch, Mrs. Cole, Tim But-ton and Blakedown Nurseries for all the plants along with Barbara and Andrew Williams for the chippings, mulch and
We are all living in extraordinary times at the moment, and as a result of the Government restrictions due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, currently we do not have any local community events and meetings across our villages, so I thought I would ‘dig out’ the archives and take you all back on a Nostalgic Trip with some editorials and stories from May 1996, 1998, and 2011. We hope that you all enjoy this ‘Trip Down Memory Lane’……..maybe this could be a feature in future magazines? I really enjoyed looking at the old maga-zines and seeing many residents names who are still involved (and sadly some who are no longer with us) in this won-derful community magazine
Gail, Editor
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trellis. Your generosity will be appreciated by the whole community for many years to come—thank you
Sallie Raybone
Martley Village Hall News The very enjoyable coffee morning and cake sale held on 23rd Marsh raised over £140 for the Village Hall funds. The Com-mittee wish to thank all those kind people who so generously made and donated cakes and raffle prizes together with eve-ryone who came, had a cup of coffee and chat and bought up all those lovely cakes.
Martley Parish Council At its meeting on the 4th March 1996 Councillors agreed the new footpath maintenance scheme drawn up by the Path-or-Nones and formally approved Mrs. L. O’Grady as the new Footpath Officer, replacing Mr K Trumper who has resigned. He was thanked by all for his excellent work over several years. Councillors discussed limits on permitted development within conversation areas which they would like to see imposed. Mr. Taylor and Mr Rogers have accompanied County Council officers on a tour of the roads used by large vehicles to identify overgrown road-side hedges. Owners will be notified. Mrs. B. Williams (District Councillor) said a Care for the Elderly scheme in ru-ral areas in to be developed. A white triangle is to be painted n the road surface oa the junction of Mortlake Drive with the B4197. Mr A. Davies (County Councillor) who could not be present, reported that Local Government revision has been put off until at least 1998; that the County Council share of Council Tax has been increased by 5.8% and that Pudford Lane should soon be resurfaced. Mrs Wickins (Council Chairman) reported on the latest meeting of the Tip Liaison Group. Two more gas
wells have been drilled and are now help-ing to produce electricity. There are no leachate problems. A new body, E.N.V.A.G, will soon take over tip supervi-sion from the N.R.A and County Council officers, although personnel will remain much the same. Mr. D Cropp said the Kinloss School had received and excellent preliminary Ofsted report. Mr. D. Southall reported on a meeting of the Area Com-mittee which discussed parishes perhaps taking over some jobs from District and/or County Councils. However, parish pre-cepts would have to pay for any work done. Signs for Berrow Green should be erect4ed early in the new financial year. Next meetings; Parish Council and Annual Parish Meeting on 15th April 1996. A.G.M of Parish Council on 20th May 1996.
A.L. Boon, Clerk
Just a Minute An extract from the record of Martley Parish Council meetings of yesteryear… Minute No 4. January 25th 1906 ‘Mr Rowley addressed the Council on the subject of difficulties and obstruction ot the traffic caused by a motor belonging to the GW Railway, now running daily through the village, as well as the damage caused thereby to the road. He proposed, and Mr Holliday seconded a resolution that the following representation be made to the Chairman of the Highways and Bridges Committee of the Council; “that this Council respectfully begs to call the attention of your Committee to the dam-age caused to the road by the employment of the GWR motor, as well as its general interference with ordinary traffic,”. The resolution was unanimously agreed’. (The road would not yet be hard surfaced. There were at this time regular steam wagon deliveries starting from Henwick Road Depot.)
ALB
May 1996 - two feature editorials in Over
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The Garden Wall in Wichenford
Best Kept Village Competition
Wichenford is entering the Best Kept Vil-lage Competition. Judges will be looking at the village, Memorial Hall, Church, graveyard, telephone kiosks, bus shelters and notice boards. They will be noting the provisions of litter bins and absence of refuse, and the condition of village greens, hedges, verges, flower and vegetable gar-dens, seen from the road. Judging will take place between Saturday 8th June and Saturday 27th July 1996. I hope everyone will try their best to keep the village tidy, especially the bus shelter by the Masons Arms. I walked 100 yards one weekend and picked up 50 beer cans and 6 bottle, leaving some behind as I couldn't carry the remainder littered around. I hope we can do better than this!
Mrs S Sanders, Clerk to the Kenswick and Wichenford
District Council
Open Garden Weekend Plans are being made for this event on the 17th and 18th August 1996. Proceeds will be shared between the Air Ambulance Fund and Wichenford Church. We under-stand that some of the gardens which will be open may differ from those open in other years. We wish all those volunteer-ing to open their gardens a very successful horticultural season to help them with tier great efforts in making their gardens love-lier than ever!
We move on a couple of years to May 1998...
Garden Tips for May
Beware of early May frosts. Dead head spring flowering bulbs, but do not remove the foliage. The lawns will need regular mowing now. If you need to patch the
lawn, seed should be sown early in the month. Do not take the mowing machine over newly sown seed until fully estab-lished. Now is the time to plan hanging baskets, but give protection in a green-house of suitable cover until the rise of frost has passed. Sow runner and dwarf beans. Watch out for black fly on broad beans, and green fly on roses. Continue successional sowing of lettuce, radish and salad onions. Sow main rip beetroot tur-nips, winter cabbages, sprouting broccoli and cauliflower. Apply a suitable fungi-cide to shrubs, trees and roses in mid-May and if there is any sign of mildew. Prune forsythia as the flower fade, also prune wall growing Japonica.
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Church Words The Rectory 01886 888664
Unusual, strange, unprecedented, are just some of the words being used to
describe the times we are living through at the moment. It is a time as one person said to me that her children would probably study as history in the future just like we remember Spanish flu now. I wonder what words were used to describe the time after that first Easter? Perhaps the same words were used then to describe an event that has in-deed changed history. Jesus life, death and resurrection were indeed strange, unusual, and unprecedented yet Christians around the world be-lieve these things to be true and this truth is given to bring us hope, and hope is certainly what is needed now I do hope you are keeping safe and well and that life in lockdown is not too hard for you. Some of you, however, will be finding this time hard, maybe financially, maybe relationally. Maybe we feel lonely, cut off from loved ones, or even fearful. The suffering of Jesus gives us the hope that he is with us in that suffering, the abandonment on the cross means that he knows what loneliness is like. But in all this the resurrection means that whatever we face there is a bright new hope that there is light at the end of the tun-nel. The Bible tells of a God who loves his creation and though at this moment we are going through problems we can be assured that nothing can sepa-rate us from the love of God, not even a virus, St. Paul makes this clear when he says; 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 May God bless you and be with you, and may you keep safe and well.
Canon David
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The Parishes Below are part of the Worcestershire West Rural Team and are working together through this crisis to bring you worship and offer pastoral; support where we can;
Our Church continues to be alive and active but due to COVID-19 our buildings must remain closed. Our worship, prayers and praise, alongside reflections and our care for each other continues . And so (until we meet again) ….May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us evermore. Amen Even though we are not able to meet with you in person the clergy are all available at the end of a telephone line so please feel free to contact us:
Rev Jen Denniston 01886 853280 [email protected] For those of you with computers, IPads or other such ‘modern technology’ the team will continue to find creative ways of offering worship through our YouTube channel;
wwrtlivestream
as well as keeping you informed through the website; Www.wwrt.churchinsight.com
Wichenford Wine Club Bill Mason, Chairman, 01905 756167
Wichenford Local Heritage Group Heather Rendall 01886 888 239
Martley Memorial Hall Bookings Pat Owen 01886 888406; [email protected]
Nora Parsons Day Centre Secretary; Pam Morgan, 01299 896655 [email protected]
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