Bishops Castle

MICHAELMAS FAIR - This Saturday the fair is back by popular demand and will be an unmissable occasion.This year the fair is focused in the town centre – but make sure you explore it all. From the church all the way up to the Castle Hotel we have fantastic entertainment.To celebrate the town hall’s 250th anniversary, a larger-than-life-size elephant puppet, created by local artist Bamber Hawes, will make its debut heading the processions – a sight not to be missed.The town hall celebrations will con-tinue into Sunday, when there will be one of the first outings for Clapper Box, from Fetch Theatre.Sit in little booths to be audience or puppeteer, or just sit back and enjoy the free popcorn.We also have the world’s tallest bub-bleologist paying a visit, ready to wow us.Along with all the Michaelmas Fair favourites, there will be processions, steam engines, tractors, live music, Morris dancers, street entertainment and theatre, vintage cars, great shop-ping opportunities, workshops, exhi-bitions, owls, alpacas, beer, samba and much more.We will have two vehicle processions at 12.30pm and 5pm. We are very lucky to have Fuzz Townshend from Channel 4’s Car SOS joining us to do the commentary. The lantern procession will be at 7.45pm with the Samba Band and Peet the Fool’s fire show as our finale.There will be live music until 9.30pm on the town hall stage! As if all that wasn’t enough, this year your £5 admission also gives you the opportunity to enter our High Flying Raffle to win one of three amazing prizes: a balloon flight, a glider flight, or a tandem paragliding trip.For more details, visit michaelmas-fair.co.uk, search for Bishops Castle Michaelmas Fair on Facebook or call 01588 630595.

JOLLY HOCKEY STICKS - Bishops Castle Junior Hockey Academy begins its eighth year on Tuesday at 4pm. Boys and girls from the age of four are welcome to join and if you want your child to take part, come to the foyer of Teme SpArC in Bishops Castle and meet Jim and Vanessa Campbell who founded the academy. Over the years they have introduced dozens of local children to the game of hockey. Sessions take place indoors every week at the Teme SpArC sports hall.Call 01588 638978 for more details.

COFFEE INVITATION - The next cof-fee morning at Abbeyfield House in Bishop’s Castle is today at 10.30am. The regular events act as a social for the Abbeyfield residents, volunteers and helpers and everyone is very welcome to pop in for a chat, to find out more about Abbeyfield House and enjoy coffee. There is a raffle and all donations go towards helping with the cost of outings for the resi-dents and good causes. The July coffee morning raised £76.50 and proceeds were sent to Abbeyfield in St Albans, for the ‘Furnish a Home Challenge’ in Africa.This year, Abbeyfield, Bishop’s Castle is also holding a grand draw at the Michaelmas Fair on Saturday. The first prize is a £100, the second is six bottles of wine and third prize is a food hamper.

POETRY AND ART LOOK TO HOMERIC PAST - The Quest Group welcomes Bethany Rivers to their meeting on Monday at 7.30pm in the Grange Road Community Centre in Bishops Castle. Bethany will be read-ing her own art-inspired poems fol-lowed by a short workshop on how to use paintings and postcards as a stim-ulus for your own poems and short stories.Ekphrasis (Greek for ‘speak out’) is a tradition which dates back to the time of Homer, when poetry and painting were seen as sister arts. Bethany has had many ekphrastic poems published in the UK and in America and the Quest workshop will offer a chance to explore themes and provide some tools to enhance your writing tech-nique. Bethany has taught creative writing for 10 years and she also runs poetry therapy retreats and sessions for counsellors who wish to use poetry as an aid. The evening costs £5 and to find out more call 01588 630648.

BAKERY HISTORY AT WI - Help Lydbury North WI celebrate 100 years of the Women’s Institute with a special talk by John Swift, from Swift’s Bakery based at Clee Hill. John’s family has been making bread since 1873 and he will be sharing their fascinating history as well as demonstrating how to bake harvest bread. The evening is open to all and begins at 7.15pm tonight in Lydbury North Village Hall. Visitors £3, to include refreshments.

BISHOPS CASTLE DIARY

TODAY: Poets’ Corner. ‘Birds’. Castle Hotel, Bishops Castle. 8pm. Book meal at 7pm on 01588 620541.

  • Coffee morning. Abbeyfield House, Bishops Castle. 10.30am.
  • Paintings. ‘Magical Spaces’ – Diane Roberts. SpArC Gallery, Bishops Castle. Until Sept 30. Call 01588 630321.
  • Exhibition. Val Littlehales. Bishops Castle Town Hall. 10am-4pm Mon-Sat. Call 01588 630023.
  • Talk. ‘Future of Handmade Textiles’ – Jim Gaffney. Bishops Castle Town Hall. £3.50. 8pm. Call 01588 630023.
  • Lydham, More and Snead WI. ‘A Lady at Sea’ – Sharla Greenaway. Lydham Village Hall. 7.30pm. Call 01588 650315.
  • Lydbury North WI open meeting. ‘Baking Since 1873’ – John Swift of Swift’s Bakery. Lydbury North Village Hall. Visitors £3. 7.15pm.

TOMORROW: Textile workshop. ‘Hand Stitch in 2D and 3D’ – Judith Rowley. Sheep-ish, 1 Market Steps, Bishops Castle. £40. Call 01588 630421.

  • Christian Aid harvest stall. High St, Bishops Castle. 10am.
  • Bookworms. ‘Birds and People’. Mark Cocker, Guardian country dia-rist. Lydbury North Village Hall. £5. Call 01588 680302.

SATURDAY: Bishops Castle Michaelmas Fair. £5, under 12 free. Steam processions 12.30pm and 5pm. Lantern procession and samba band 7.45 pm. Call 01588 630595.

  • Three markets. Farmers, flea and craft markets. Bishops Castle Town Hall. 9am. Call 01588 630023.

SUNDAY: Dance with Paul Davies (Alphabet Dancers). Live music and stories. Bishops Castle Town Hall. 10.30am. Call 01588 630023.

  • Giardino String Quartet. Castle Hotel garden. Call 01588 630023.n Lydham Church harvest festival. 11.15am.

MONDAY: Bishops Castle and District. Carers Group. ‘Caring For the Eyes’ – Paul Cottrell. Boars Head, Bishops Castle. 2pm - 4pm. Call 01694 722024.

  • Short walk on flat ground.30-60 mins. Meet Enterprise House, Bishops Castle. Free. Weekly 10.30am. Call 01743 255059.
  • Quest Group. ‘Ekphrastic Poetry’ – Bethany Rivers. Grange Road Community Centre, Bishops Castle. £5. 7.30pm. Call 01588 630648.
  • Beginners Tai Chi – Alec Jones. Lydbury North Village Hall. Weekly. 11.15am. Call 07989 302837.

TUESDAY: Diabetes Awareness programme. Church Barn, Bishops Castle. Free. 2pm. Call 01743 342160.

  • Footpath Walking Group. Mucklewick. Meet Harley Jenkins St car park, Bishop’s Castle. 9.30am. Call 01588 638119.

WEDNESDAY: SW Shropshire Gardening Club. ‘A Flower for Every Day’– Pam Pittwood. Lydbury North Village Hall. Guest £3. 7.30pm. Call 01588 660753.

  • Age Concern lunch. Powis Arms, Lydbury North. Monthly. Noon. Book on 01588 80667.

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. Her phone number is 01588 680445.The email address is jpark-er228@btinternet.com.

 

Clows Top

CLOWS TOP AND DISTRICT GARDENING CLUB - September is a time to be gathering in the harvest and autumn colours begin to appear with a distinct chill in the morning air. The effects of the shortening days are now quite noticeable, so it’s time to move frost-tender plants indoors. Summer seems to be barely over before thoughts of next spring begin. Buy spring bulbs for the garden early to get the best choice of varieties. Many jobs still to be done, deadhead roses, cut back perennials and fork over yours beds and borders for one good round of thorough weeding. This should keep them mostly tidy until the following spring. Clean out cold frames and greenhouses ready for autumn use.At the July meeting, Nick Tristram-Eve, dressed in 18th Georgian costume, gave an interesting talk on the subject ‘chocolate through time’. Nick, a food historian, went through the history events of chocolate through the centuries to the modern day chocolate bar we now eat today. He also brought along some 18th century chocolate drinks for us to sample. This fascinating subject was a great success with everyone enjoying the talk. If you’re not a member then come along and join us at one of our monthly meetings. It’s a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts, ideas and advice with other members. We have a great programme of speakers as well as Evening visits to local gardens. Our garden club has a very friendly atmosphere, everyone is welcome. Don’t be afraid to come along, we are a garden club not a horticulture soci-ety, the membership is only £10 pa. However, non-members are welcome to any monthly meeting.The next meeting will be on Wednesday, and the speaker for the evening will be Patrick Clements with a talk entitled ‘wildlife, nature and conservation’. It will also be the clubs autumn show. Schedules available from garden club or email a request.

Diary Dates: October 28, an evening with Derek Walker; November 25, AGM, members social evening; 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. Admission fee: members £2 or non-members £4. Free refresh-ments. Further details Marion Wilson 01299 270475 or email clowstopdis-trictgardeningclub@hotmail.co.uk.

 

Clun

FILLING STATION - All are welcome at the meetings, which take place at Newcastle on Clun Community Centre. Meetings are different each time and there is a range of speakers from various Christian backgrounds. Further information from Brian Angell, 01588 640029.

CLUN RAMBLERS AND PERAMBLERS - New people always welcome in these regular Wednesday walking groups.Ramblers go on longer walks and meet at Clun Memorial Hall at 9.30am. Peramblers walk around seven miles or so and meet at 10am. More information from Peter James (ramblers) on 01588 640027 or Mandy Newton (peramblers) on 01588 640195.

NEW EXHIBITION AT THE OLD SURGERY GALLERY - Open at The Old Surgery Gallery, Clun: a new exhibition featuring the work of local artists both amateur and profession-R-Lt Darren Price and Alex Barclayal, all from the Clun Valley. They include Tom Barker, Denise Evans, Jacqueline Fletcher, Jemima Jameson, Sarah Jameson, Nigel Kerry, Pauline Kiteley, Wendy Lantos, Abby Lewis, Angela Martin, Sylvia Mills, Joyce Pendry, Noel Shepherdson, Cheryl Williams and Gordon Yapp. The range of work is quite remarkably variedThe exhibition runs until September 28, and the gallery is open daily, seven days a week including Sundays from 10am to 5pm.

NEW ROPE STRING BAND - It’s the farewell tour for the boys, who are bringing their mayhem and music to Clun Memorial Hall, Wednesday 7.30pm. ‘Before these ageing folk-cabaret artistes go their separate ways, head-ing for new and exciting theatrical and musical horizons, they have decided to do a farewell lap of honour, a celebra-tory extravaganza of their finest rou-tines with some specially-created final flourishes. Expect fish tanks, boiled eggs, fiddles, banjos, cardboard gui-tars, theremins, explosions, interactive films, drainpipes, mermaids, pink y-fronts, thrills, spills, tears and hilarity. For diehard audiences it’s a chance to come along, laugh once more and say goodbye. For those who’ve never seen them, this is your last chance!’Tickets will not be available on the door, so book soon. Adults £10, stu-dent/under 18s £6, bookable in advance from 27 High St, Clun; dilysthorpe@clun.org.uk and Tim Wood in the Old Surgery Gallery.

CORRESPONDENT - Ros Patching clunpatch@btinternet.com, 01588 640772. Deadline is the Wednesday of the week before publication.

 

Tenbury

RACE NIGHT - Tenbury Primary School PTFA are having a race night on September 25 at 7pm in the school hall. You can own your own racehorse (virtually) for the evening. You will name the horse to appear in the race programme. It will cost £10 for the horse which will give you two free tickets, a complimentary drink on arrival and free nibbles. There will be a bar, raffle and betting. It will be a fun and exciting evening. If you would like to ‘buy’ a horse please contact the school office on 01584 810234. Betting and bar over 18 only.

BLACK COUNTRY NIGHT - Comes to Bockleton at Bockleton Parish Hall, September 25. Tickets £15 (children £10) includes traditional Black Country food. For tickets ring Peter 01568 750615.Food at 7pm: faggots or sausages with peas, mash and gravy and desert. Come and join us for an evening of fun, laughter and song from top entertainers Dandy. Bring your own drinks. Proceeds for St Michael’s Church, Bockleton.

EASTHAM GARDEN CLUB - Come and learn about old species roses. Next meeting is Tuesday at 7.30pm. It will be held at Eastham Memorial Hall. The speaker this month is Lindsey Bousfild who will be giving a talk on old species roses. All wel-come, come and join us. For more information go to easthamgarden-club.co.uk.

 

The Strettons

COFFEE MORNING - Local fundrais-ers for the RNLI are hosting a coffee morning at Alpenrose, 17, Alison Road, this morning 10.30am-noon.

AFTERNOON TEA - The Friends of Hope House have arranged an after-noon tea event courtesy of the Longmynd Hotel this afternoon at 2.30pm when Jeremy Lamond will be the speaker and will value a selection of items. Call in at the Hope House Shop to enquire for tickets or ring 01694 723742.

ROCKY HORROR SHOW - The Rocky Horror Show(12A) will be beamed live from London to Church Stretton School tonight. Doors open at 6.30pm, admission £10 and £5 for juniors. Anyone wishing to dine before the show should enquire at the school for table places which cost £13 per head for a two course meal with wine and coffee served from 5.30pm, call 01694 722209 for more information will be available.

FRIDAY MARKET - Held at Mayfair Community Centre opens at 8.30am-noon selling home-made cakes, pro-duce, garden and craft items.

FUN FAIR - Jennings Brothers Fun Fair will be in Church Stretton from tomorrow to Sunday, open from 5pm-9pm on tomorrow, 1pm-9pm on Saturday and 1pm-6pm on Sunday.

TALK - A talk about dogs and a dem-onstration of dog agility is due to take place at Longnor Village Hall tomorrow at 6pm. Refreshments will be available and there will be a raffle.

FLU CLINIC - The flu clinic will be open at the Medical Centre on Saturday from 9am-noon. A second clinic is planned for October 3.

PILGRIMAGE - The South Shropshire Interfaith forum is planning a coach visit to places of worship and culture in Wolverhampton on Saturday leaving Church Stretton at around 9am from the Methodist Church and returning at approximately 5.30pm. The visit will take in several places of worship in Wolverhampton including a mosque, Sikh Gurdwara with lunch, and a Hindu temple. There will be a chance to speak with members of the Wolverhampton interfaith group and other faith groups about important current issues. To enquire for a place on the coach ring 01694 725530.

PAINTING COURSE - A painting course at Mayfair Community Centre is planned for tomorrow to Sunday, 10am-5pm daily under the heading Abstracting the Landscape ( CS100) led by Tereska Shepherd. The course sets out to develop watercol-our and mixed media techniques including oil, pastel, ink, gesso, col-lage and mono-printing. Cost for the three days is £100, £80 for conces-sions and there is a fee waiver scheme available.

QUIZ NIGHT - Ken Willis will be the question-master at a quiz night in aid of The Stroke group on Saturday at 7.30pm in the District Social Club. Entrance is £4 per head.

GUIDED TOUR - The area local histo-ry group has arranged a guided tour of Shrewsbury Museum on Monday at 2pm. Booking is essential so enquire for places by ringing 01694 720040. Admission is £4.50 for non-members.

CRAFT COURSE - Mayfair Community Centre is the venue for a Silver PMC Clay Jewellery making course with Jules Harper on Monday from 10am-4pm. Enquire for places. The cost of the course is £40.

RHYMETIME - Fun, songs and rhymes for children under three years can be enjoyed at Rhymetime sessions at the library from 10.30am-11am on Tuesday mornings.

COMMUNITY CINEMA - Woman in Gold(12A) will be screened Tuesday at Acton Scott at 7.30pm. Starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds and is the real life story of Maria Altmann and her legal campaign against the Austrian government to reclaim items stolen by the Nazis from her family home. Adults £4, children £2.

DISCUSSION EVENING - Mike Bourke leads an open evening dis-cussion on Pope Francis’ recent let-ter on climate change. The meeting will be at the Parish Centre on Tuesday at 7.30pm. All welcome.

NETWORK - The Network Group meeting Wednesday offers a musical afternoon with Andrew David, 2.30pm in Methodist Hall. All welcome.

CAMERA CLUB - The Longmynd Camera Club welcomes Malcolm Ranieri, FRPS,MPAGB, AFIAP, BPE5 to its meeting on Wednesday where he will be presenting In Search of Steam, illustrated by colour slides featuring trains from this country and overseas, and showing the techniques of railway photography. Meetings are held at the URC Hall starting at 7.30pm and visitors are always welcome.

AGM - The Tree Group holds its AGM Wednesday at the Methodist hall at 7.30pm when nominations for com-mittee would be welcome, and fol-lows it with a talk by Dr Andy Gordon on the’ Northo Fagus Southern Beech- what is it and should we be planting more of it?’

COFFEE MORNING - A coffee morn-ing for Macmillan is planned for September 25, at Gilberries Cottage, Gilberries Land, Wall-u-Heywood SY6 7HZ from 10am-noon.

FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE HORNE - The very last chance to hear the New Rope String Band will be at the Silvester Horne Institute, September 25, at 7.30pm. Ticket sales are through Burway Books, John Thomas Florists and Church Stretton Council Offices and cost £10, £6 for under 16s and £30 for a family ticket.

CONCERT - A concert for Africa is planned for September 25, 7.30pm, in the URC, featuring Claire and Mark Tocknell, Brenda Stephenson and Friends. A retiring collection is for Self Help Africa.