WOOD FUEL IDEA FOR COLLEGE - Bishops Castle Community Energy Cooperative Ltd (BCCE) is proposing to offer the town’s Community College the opportunity of installing a state-ofthe- art wood fuel heating system. The scheme would involve no capital expenditure by the school and would lower their energy bill and CO2 emissions, as well as providing funds for the wider community. BCCE and representatives from the Community College are working together on a plan whereby BCCE would provide the installation, raising money to do so from ecological funders, and lease it to the college. As the owner of the installation, BCCE would be able to take advantage of the government's Commercial Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, and receive payment (guaranteed for 20 years ) for each unit of heat generated, providing a significant profit over the life of the project. Under BCCE's co-operative rules, all profits will be used for social or charitable purposes within the local community.

“The college could make substantial savings. It is currently heated by an oilfired boiler system, costing around £70,000 per year to run and subject to high fuel inflation costs”, said cooperative board member Dave Luckhurst, “Wood fuel heating is calculated to save the college around £20,000 in the first year alone, a saving which will rise year on year. “ BCCE has sprung from a combination of Wasteless Society, Lightfoot Household Energy and Bishops Castle Community Land Trust members and consists of local residents, business people and sustainable energy enthusiasts. The group is keen to receive support, questions and feedback from residents, parents and students and is actively seeking new members.

Representatives from Bishops Castle Community Energy Co-operative will be at Enterprise House, Bishops Castle to answer questions and give more information on Tuesday from 5pm to 6.30pm, November 8 from 11.30am to 1pm and November 9 from 11am - 12.30pm. To find out more look on www.bccommunityenergy.org.uk or call Dave Luckhurst on 07811 851128.

ENERGY NEWS AT LIGHTFOOT - Energy guru Dave Green returns to Bishops Castle on Monday to give a talk at the Lightfoot office, above the pharmacy in Bishops Castle. The evening, which begins at 6.15pm, will be a chance to catch up on news of The Green Deal, renewable energy and other energy issues. For more information look on www.lightfoot.org.uk or call 01547 528265.

ROOKIE LIFEGUARD LESSONS - Lessons begin on Thursday, November 7 for rookie lifeguards at Teme SpArC in Bishops Castle. The classes run from 5pm to 6pm, with instructor Elaina Owen and to get on the course you must be aged ten and over and have the ASA NPTS stage seven or Silver Challenge qualification. Ask at Teme SpArC reception for details.

JUMBLE SALE AT PUBLIC HALL - A jumble sale in Bishops Castle public hall on November 9 will raise money for the residents’ funds at Sandford Nursing Home in Church Stretton and Churchill House in Ludlow. Doors open at 2pm and the organiser Mo Parry hopes for plenty of support. All the usual stalls will be there - jumble, brica- brac, tombola, cakes, a raffle and refreshments. Donations, cakes, jumble and prizes can all be given to Mo, call her on 01588 630096. A jumble sale she held in August raised over £628 for Bishops Castle public hall funds and she hopes to exceed that on November 9.

SCHOOL PLANTS POPPIES AT MEMORIAL - Pupils from the top class at Bishops Castle Primary School will join men and women from Bishops Castle Royal British Legion to remember those killed in the two World Wars. They will meet at a ceremony at Bishops Castle War Memorial at 11am on November 11 for a short act of remembrance, after which the children will plant some perennial poppies which they have grown at school from seed. These will be placed in front of the memorial in Bishops Castle churchyard to honour those who died.

REMEMBERING THE DROVERS - Over 70 members and friends of the South West Shropshire Historical and Archaeological met in the Church Barn, Bishops Castle on October 8 to hear a lecture on The Drovers by Idris Evans. Mr Evans, the author of a book Hard Road to London explained how Welsh cattle - and other animals - were for centuries driven from the western edges of Wales and Anglesey right across Wales and England, to be sold in the lucrative markets of London, some 300 miles and three weeks away. He took the audience on such a journey from Amlwch in Anglesey, across the dangerous Menai Straits, down the Vale of Clwyd through his own village of Rhewl (where there is still a pub called The Drovers’ Arms), across Shropshire, and through the Midlands to Chelmsford in Essex where the cattle were fattened in preparation for sale in London. Parts of these journeys were made along drovers’ roads, ancient tracks like the Kerry and Clun- Clee Ridgeways, with wide verges to provide grazing, and hostelries (marked by clumps of pine trees) where shelter and food could be obtained. Up to 1000 cattle might be taken on a single drive, and the head drover would ride ahead to warn communities of their arrival. The audience was fascinated by the intimate details and lively anecdotes which together gave a vivid and entertaining picture of a remarkable trade which only died out with the coming of the railways in the 19th century. The next meeting of SWSHAS is at 7.30pm on November 12, in the Church Barn, Bishops Castle, when Fiona Grant will give an illustrated lecture on Greenhouse, Hothouse and Stove – the Evolution of the Glasshouse. The lecture will be preceded by the society’s AGM. All are welcome, guests £5.

BISHOPS CASTLE DIARY, October 31 - November 6 THURSDAY: Boo and Bang children’s Halloween show. SpArC Theatre, Bishops Castle, £7/ £5/£25 family, 2pm. Call 01588 630321/638038.

• NT Live Frankenstein at SpArC Theatre, Bishops Castle, £10/ £7, 7pm.

Call 01588 630321/638038 to book.

• Spooky Magic Show with Picklelilly Circus at Bishops Castle library, £2, 6pm. Book on 01588 638215.

FRIDAY: Preview of exhibition of photographs by Andrew Fusek Peters.

SpArC Gallery, Bishops Castle, 6pm - 8pm. Until end of month.

• Constituents’ surgery with Philip Dunne MP at Enterprise House, Bishops Castle, 4.30pm - 6pm. Call 01584 872187.

SATURDAY: Crafty vintage market at Bishops Castle public hall. 10am.

• Edgton Village Club. Dog racing at Monmore Green, £35, departing 4.30pm. Call 01588 680226.

MONDAY: Meditation at Mainstone Church, 7.30pm, music 7pm.

TUESDAY: Bishops Castle town council meeting at Enterprise House, Station Street, 8pm. Plans on view 7.40pm.

• Footpath Walking Group. Ludlow.

Meet Harley Jenkins Street car park, Bishops Castle, 9.30am. Call 01588 680261.

• Onny Valley Social Club. Make Christmas decorations with Eileen.

Norbury village hall at 2.30pm. Call 01588 638570.

WEDNESDAY: Talk - The Irish Question in the 19th Century with Alison Webb.

Fletcher Room, Community College, Bishops Castle, £10, 10am. Call 01588 640092.

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, phone 01588 680445 or email jparker228@btinternet.com.