Richards Castle

DANCE – Sequence and ballroom dance tomorrow 8pm-11pm, in village hall, music by Brian Link, admission £3.50. All profits for Air Ambulance. For more details call 01584 831439.

LOCAL HISTORY GROUP – Will meet in the village hall next Thursday, July 24, Richard Bifield will give an illustrated talk The British on holiday - from the grand tour to mass tourism . It starts at 7.30pm, admission £2, refreshments available. All welcome.

 

Tenbury

THE TENBURY NILS SCHEME – AGM at 6pm, July 31, at St Mary’s Church, Tenbury Wells. All friends, supporters and the public are welcome.

FETE AND DOG SHOW – St Michael’s village, Sunday 2-5pm at Sunnycroft, St Michael’s, by kind permission of Mr and Mrs J Rickett. Entrance fee £1, children under 14 free. Many interesting stalls, together with teas, barbecue, music by Red Madog, children’s races and Men Behaving Badly competition for children, mini carnival, the theme First World War. Come as soldiers, officers, nurses, servants, poppies, Edwardian costume, music hall singers and dancers, nannies, coppers and robbers, etc. How about taking part in the parade?

Starting at the village hall and parading round the fete arena soon after the opening at 2pm, 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. To take part please contact Janet Penn 01584 810238 or Ros Plested 01584 811853.

TENBURY WELLS – Remembers the fallen – celebrates the peace, August 3 on the Burgage 10am-5pm. Royal British Legion rally and parade, Drumhead Service, TS Sherborne Sea Cadet Band, First World War poetry by Tenbury high school students, First World War singalong, 1914 film The Price of Freedom at the Regal, Tenbury in 1914 at the Pump Room, vintage cars, refreshments.

 

The Strettons

COUNTRY MARKET – Country market is open tomorrow and every Friday at Mayfair Community Centre from 8.30am-noon selling home- made cakes, produce and craft items.

LEAVERS’ ASSEMBLY – St Lawrence’s Primary School will hold a leavers’ assembly at the parish church tomorrow, 9.45am, classes five to nine will be present. The service will give an opportunity for children to reflect on their time at St Lawrence’s and celebrate through readings and music. Each year six pupil will receive a bible from the church and dictionary from Church Stretton Rotary Club. Parents and carers are invited to attend the service.

FOLK DANCE – Saturday night is folk dance night at Ticklerton village hall starting, 8pm. All welcome as experience of this kind of dance is not required as Ron and Dot will be on hand to guide you through.

QUIZ NIGHT – A quiz night at the district club Saturday will raise funds for the senior citizens day care holiday fund. Entry £4 per head and there will be National Lottery ticket prizes.

ARCHERY FESTIVAL –The archery festival begins tomorrow and runs until Tuesday and is based at the rear of Church Stretton School. The festival attracts competitive archers from all over the country who wish to raise their profile in the sport. Spectators are always welcome and admissions is free.

CHARITY EVENT – Tom Peel’s charity event takes place on Saturday at Ashfield House, Walkmills SY6 6NJ. On the music programme will be Abba Sensation, Custard Connection and Robbie T Disco and there will be other entertainment during the evening. A bar and food stall will be open. Admission, £15 for adults and £5 for under 15s. The event will raise funds for the Haematology Unit at the RSH, Cerebral Palsy and the Hydro Pool at Concord College. To enquire for tickets call, 01694 751261.

STRAWBERRY TEAS – Strawberries and cream teas will be served up at Essex Lodge, All Stretton, Sunday afternoon in aid of Cancer Research UK. There will be cakes and plants on sale and a raffle. Admission free.

DAY OUT – The Church Stretton and District Gardening Club is arranging an outing to Wollerton Old Hall Garden, near Market Drayton, on Tuesday. To enquire for seats on the coach please call, 01694 720131.

PRAYERS – Prayers for a summer evening will take place at the Methodist Church on Tuesday evenings during July and August, starting at 7pm. All invited.

SWIFTS – Last chance to help with the survey to find out how swifts use the built environment will be at Wednesday meeting at 8.45pm in the Square. To find out more contact, 01694 724170 for the Stretton Area Community Wildlife Group.

HOLIDAY CLUBS – Busy Bees Pre- School will be running a holiday club on Wednesdays and Thursdays during the school summer holidays starting from Wednesday to August 21, catering for children up to eight years of age. The club will be open from 9am-3pm on each of the days. Call in or email to enquire.

St Laurence’s Church also runs a holiday club from Tuesday, to July 25, at the parish centre. Enquire for places as numbers are limited.

SCHOOL NEWS – St Lawrence’s Primary School work party will be helping to improve the KS1 play area and garden. Parents, grandparents, carers, pupils and friends are all invited to go along and lend a hand on Tuesday and August 21.

Two busy open mornings took place at Church Stretton School and the principal invited in parents of senior students and Duke of Edinburgh students to an afternoon tea to celebrate their achievements. The school summer concert was July 15.

Last day for Church Stretton School students will be today and for St Lawrence’s pupils it will be tomorrow for the summer holiday and at the end of the last day year six pupils will have the opportunity to collect signatures on an old T-shirt or in an autograph book if they wish as a memento of their time at the school. Church Stretton School will be welcoming back the year 11 students to collect their GCSE results in August.

ACTORS’ SHOWCASE – Students of The Stretton School of dance and drama showcased a diverse programme ofwork undertaken by the intermediate and advanced students of speech and drama ranging from grade five to eight, together with musical theatre, at a recent evening held at Church Stretton School.

FOCUS – Following the AGM of Focus, Tom Beaumont was unanimously elected to take over as chairman from Barrie Archer who was stepping down, and has agreed to stay in post for up to two years. The deputy chairman is Barrie Raynor.

ANOB – The ANOB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) Committee has been busy with business networking events within the sustainable business scheme and encouraging people to buy local and to become involved with the schemes. They will be organising a rescuing rocks tour for members and friends, part of a five year project programming habitat restoration and enhancement of former quarries and mines. There is also a foundation for common land project with the Longmynd being one common land chosen, so talks have been held with a range of stakeholders to gauge their views about use of the area.

More than 25 volunteers recently took part in field work training for a community archaeology project with a further field work training planned for August. On August 3, there will be a guided discovery walk under the heading of ‘Preparing for war in the air and on the rails’. Don’t forget that the Shropshire Hills shuttle buses are running each weekend and bank holidays throughout the summer.

WORKSHOP – Permaculture in three days is planned at Karuna, Nr Picklescote starting, July 25, led by tutor Jan Martin. Cost of the workshop is £90 with concessions available. This is an Aberystwyth University event so please call, 01970 621580 for places.

ROCK AND ROLL – A rock and roll night is planned for July 26, at the District Social Club starting 8.30pm.

Entrance is free and all are welcome but no admission after 10.30pm.

ARTS FESTIVAL – The Church Stretton arts festival will start, July 26, with an opening concert held at Concord College, 7.30pm to hear The Bingham Quartet, one of the world’s leading string quartets, playing Haydn, Schubert, Shostakovich and Steve Reich’s haunting ‘Different Trains’. Transport may be arranged by ringing 01694 720025 on weekdays only. Ticket sales are through John Thomas Florists and the Visitor Information Centre in Church Street.

LOCAL HISTORY – The local history group is planning a visit to the Shrewsbury Flax Mill, August 4, 7pm. For more call, 01694 720040.

FARMER PHIL’S FESTIVAL – A music festival in the Shropshire Hills, an area of outstanding natural beauty, will be taking place at Near Gatten farm, Ratlinghope, SY5 0SN from August 8-10, with camping available. A weekend ticket including camping is £70, and children 11 and under are free. Family tickets of two plus two, children aged 12-15 costs £220 including camping. The weekend will include a children’s area, variety stage and other attractions, together with a main stage and an acoustic stage, workshops and a fancy dress competition which will be held on the Sunday. To enquire further call, 01588 650632.

 

Clows Top and District Gardening Club

THE garden should now be looking its best. The borders are full of colour and scent such as roses and sweet peas fill the air and the vegetable garden producing fine crops. Long summer evenings can be enjoyed to the full, relaxing and entertaining friends.

At the May meeting speaker, Vivienne McGee, gave a talk and power point presentation on ‘Hardy Plant Society’. The society is run by volunteers and encourages interest in growing hardy herbaceous perennials. It has thousands of members from the UK and overseas. The society ensures that all garden worthy perennial plants remain in cultivation.

Members can take part in the annual seed distribution scheme by donating and/or requesting perennial seed.

The evening was a great success with everyone enjoying the talk. Many thanks to everyone who helped or attended our plant and coffee morning. Money from this fundraiser goes towards the expenses/prize money needed for the summer show in August.

Gardening is one of the few hobbies that are relaxing, enjoyable and very rewarding. Our garden club has a very friendly atmosphere, everyone is welcome. It’s a great way for exchanging gardening knowledge, and sharing tips. Next meeting on Wednesday is by Dr Murray Mylechreest who will give a talk entitled ‘Tales from garden labels’.

Diary dates: August 16, Clows top summer show August 27, carnivorous plant, Mike King September 24, 60 years of wildlife photography, John Robinson October 22, I’m not much good at gardening, David Morgan November 26, Hartlebury Common, Dr Joy Rooney Clows Top and District Gardening Club meet the fourth Wednesday in the calendar month at Clows Top Victory Hall; doors open 7.30pm, for the speaker at 8pm.

Further details call Marion Wilson 01299 270475, or email:clowstopdistrictgardeningclub@hotmail.co.uk.