CYCLE SUCCESS - There were 22 riders in a fundraising group that rode from Bishops Castle to Aberdovey. The money is now in and they have raised £7,250 for the Children’s Cancer Unit at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. One of them, Matt Morgan was so keen that he even made the return trip on his bike. “I had been thinking of ways to fundraise for the unit to say thank you for the care they had given a young friend of mine,” said Helen Griffiths who organised the event. “So I decided I would do a sponsored cycle to Aberdovey, which was his favourite beach. After telling other people about my plan, 21 others asked if they could join me. The grand total we have raised has overwhelmed me; it has gone beyond all my expectations.

Everyone has been so kind in sponsoring us, encouraging us and being there to welcome us at the finish line. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone. This money will help make some very poorly children's time in hospital that little bit more comfortable.”

MICHAELMAS FAIR - Bishops Castle Michaelmas Fair is in its 19th season and this year everything is actionpacked into one day, Saturday. The streets will be full of vintage vehicles and market stalls from late morning and will complement the town’s wide variety of shops. More market stalls can be found in and around the public hall in Station Street.

All the main entertainments will be in a new venue at the auction yard arena from 12 noon. Here you will find street theatre, music and displays such as the Savage Skills Mountain Bike Display Team. Street entertainment is by George Orange, fresh from The Edinburgh Festival. George is the man on the moon, taking his audience on a trip to the stratosphere and back again. Calamity Jane is there too, hotfoot from the saloon bars of the wild west country.

There are also lots of walkabout street acts including The Sugar Plump Fairies and The Cheerleaders. Music is provided by local well know bands such as Thin Vision and Nuclear Weasels.

The vintage vehicle procession will wind its way through the streets at 12.30pm with vintage cars, commercial vehicles, tractors and a few steam engines.

The event is brought to close with the ever popular lantern procession from St John’s Church at 7.45pm, followed by The Bang-On Samba Band and a fire show by Chango Fuego in the High Street. If all that’s not enough for you, entertainments and refreshments continue in the town’s six public houses till late. All this for an amazing cost of £5 per adult and children under 12 free, making this a fun and good value day out for the whole family.

PRISON REFORM WORKSHOP - Jamie Wrench from the Ludlow Quaker Meeting will be posing the question Why Prison? at a workshop in Bishops Castle on September 28. Starting at 3pm in the Methodist hall, participants will be invited to engage with the subject of penal reform. Mr Wrench is a former education officer in Shropshire and a management consultant in the field of economic and social research. He advises local authorities in such areas as ethnic minorities, people with special needs and the ‘hard to reach’. He is clerk of the national Quaker Crime, Community and Justice Subcommittee and has a particular interest in restorative justice and climate change. Organisers promise the event, postponed from February by bad weather, will be lively, challenging and stimulating. For more information call 01588 630773.

MARCHES CHOIR - The Marches Community Choir has started rehearsing for their 14th season, with John Bowen as the conductor. An exciting programme is arranged with a wide variety of choral music, ranging from Bach to Rutter. The Christmas concert is on December 14 and the programme includes the Magnificat by Schubert, and seasonal pieces by Bach and Sweelinck. This year, as well as carols for the choir and for audience, Bishops Castle Primary School choir will be singing their own programme.

The spring concert programme includes Haydn’s Little Organ Mass with strings, a piece by Pitoni and John Rutter’s Gloria! The Pitoni and Rutter pieces are accompanied by organ and brass. The brass group is led by local trumpeter Cecil Haywood.

In May 2014 members of the choir are going to France to give a concert in Paris and also one in Hesdin where Ian Ward, who conducted the Marches Choir on many occasions, is now living.

This is the second time the choir has been invited to take part in concerts in France and they are looking forward to meeting old friends.

Philippa Whitaker is the founder of the Marches Community Choir and she adds, “Once again it has been in the news that singing is good for wellbeing.

Our friendly choir welcomes new members and we rehearse on Mondays from 7.30pm to 9pm in the Community College hall, Bishops Castle. Anyone interested in joining is invited to come along on a Monday or call me on 01588 680312.”

AUGUST WINNER - David Jones won £26 in the August draw for the Lydham Church 100 Club. Marion Denwood won £15.60 and Milly Garnier won £10.40. Call Jimmy Garnier on 01588 638486 if you would like to join the club.

QUEST FOR JOAN OF ARC - Clun based writer Manda Scott is the speaker at the Quest Spiritual Network on Monday. Her subject is Joan of Arc a character the author has taken for her latest literary exploration. Quest meets at 7.30pm. on the fourth Monday of the month in the Grange Road community centre in Bishops Castle. Entrance costs £5. Call 01588 630648 for more details.

ENERGY SAVING HELP - Over the next few weeks the Bishops Castle based Lightfoot energy service will be contacting people who have had a Household Energy Survey carried out.

The group, which is funded by Environment Wales, wants to know how their clients have got on since they had a survey done and the information obtained will be used to help improve the service in the future.

If you would like to become a Lightfoot volunteer contact Mandy Brick at mandy@lightfoot.org.uk or call 01547 528265.

GREEN PARTY - The South Shropshire branch of the Green Party will have a stall at Saturday’s Michaelmas Fair in Bishops Castle, taking the opportunity to launch two petitions for members of the public to sign. The first calls for the adoption of a Living Wage in the UK, while the second asks for the privatisation of Royal Mail to be dropped. When complete, the two petitions will be presented to local MP Philip Dunne.

MACMILLAN COFFEE AT STONE HOUSE - Residents, friends and staff got together for a recent garden party at Stone House. The event raised £442 and assistant manager Edna Jones thanks the Friends of Stone House, the musicians in the band Anything Goes and everyone who came. On September 12 a party of residents went to Llandudno for the day, a visit enjoyed by all. The next Stone House event is a Macmillan coffee morning at 11am on September 27.

COFFEE, EXERCISE AND YOGA AT ABBEYFIELD - Meet your friends at a coffee morning in Abbeyfield House in Oak Meadow, Bishops Castle today (Thursday). Starting at 10.30am, everyone is welcome. There are a number of other regular activities at Abbeyfield too, with exercise to music from 10am to 11am every Tuesday and yoga from 3.15pm to 4.15pm every Thursday afternoon. To find out more, call 01588 630000. You will be very welcome.

GROWING AUDIENCES AT SPARC - Audiences at Bishops Castle’s SpArC Theatre are steadily growing, with a full programme of arts events lined for them to enjoy during the autumn and winter. To find out what’s on at the SpArC Theatre, pick up a programme leaflet, call 01588 630321 or look on www.sparctheatre.co.uk BOOK BANK CLOSES - The British Heart Foundation has now removed its book bank from the Crowgate recycling centre at the Bishops Castle Business Park. Please take any surplus books, DVDs and CDs to the two charity shops in the town. Old videos are not accepted however and must go in your black rubbish bin.

FARMERS MARKET AT SCHOOL - Lydbury North Primary School will be hosting a farmers’ market at the school on Tuesday from 2pm to 4.30pm. The children have been busy growing vegetables and will be making soup to sell. There will be plenty of other stalls including preserves, bread and cakes, honey, knitted jumpers, cheese and pies to name a few. The market will take place inside the school hall. If you would like your own stall for a fee of £5, call 01588 680277.

COFFEE FOR MACMILLAN CANCER CARE - The Powis Arms in Lydbury North is this year’s venue for a Macmillan coffee morning on September 27. Starting at 10.30am, attractions include a cake stall, raffle and plant stall. Call 01588 680357 for more information.

BISHOPS CASTLE DIARY, September 19-25 THURSDAY: Footpath Walking Group.

The Bog, four to six miles. Meet Harley Jenkins St car park, Bishops Castle.

9.30am, call 01743 791918.

• Lydbury North WI. Home insulation with Dave Thomlinson of Lightfoot at Edgton village hall, 7.15pm.

• Lydham, More and Snead WI.

Pleasures and perils of letting the public in your garden with Pam and David Pittwood at Lydham village hall.

7.30pm. Call 01588 650315.

FRIDAY: Christian Aid harvest stall, outside 1 High St, Bishops Castle at 10am.

SATURDAY: Bishops Castle Michaelmas Fair, £5, children free, from 12 noon.

SUNDAY: Bishops Castle community games day at Bishops Castle Tennis Club, Love Lane. Free family day, 11am.

• Live band, Slow Burner at Crown and Anchor Vaults, Bishops Castle.

• Harvest festival at Wentnor Church, 6.30pm.

MONDAY: Quest Spiritual Network presents The New Vision of Joan of Arc with Manda Scott. Grange Road community centre, Bishops Castle, 7.30pm. Call 01588 630648.

• Bingo at Powis Arms, Lydbury North, 8pm, call 01588 680396.

• Footpath Walking Group, Tenbury Wells, eight miles. Meet Harley Jenkins St car park, Bishops Castle, 9.30am.

Call 01588 630531.

TUESDAY: New season for Bishops Castle junior hockey. Sports hall, SpArC, Bishops Castle. Ages five to 11, £1, weekly, 4pm.

• Amnesty International meeting.

Boars Head, Bishops Castle, 7.30pm.

Call 01588 630018.

• Exercise to music. Abbeyfield House, Bishops Castle. Weekly from 10-11am.

• Little Fish, parent and toddler group.

Stay and play at the Methodist Hall, Bishops Castle from 1pm-3pm. Book on 01694 723465.

• Weekly street dance class for ages six to 14. SpArC Theatre, Bishops Castle, £4, from 5pm. Call 01588 630321/638038.

• Farmers market. Lydbury North Primary School, 2pm. Call 01588 673627 to book stall.

WEDNESDAY: Quiz in aid of Rainbow Ward, RSH. Powis Arms, Lydbury North. 7.30pm.

CORRESPONDENT - If you have any news for the paper, or a coming event to promote, please hand a note addressed to Julia Parker over the counter at Bishops Castle Post Office, call 01588 680445 or email address is jparker228@btinternet.com.