WHAT’S ON April 2017/May 2017

Edition Number 226

OAKRIDGE LYNCH FAR OAKRIDGE

WATERLANE BOURNES GREEN TUNLEY

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THE CHURCH IN OAKRIDGE, meeting at St

Bartholomew’s

APRIL 2017 2nd Parish Communion 9.30am 9th Family Communion 9.30am Palm Sunday with dramatised reading of the

Passion narrative, followed by Breakfast at Barts 16th Family Communion 9.30am Easter Day 23rd Holy Communion (BCP) 8.00am

Morning Worship 9.30am 30th Benefice Eucharist at Christ Church, Chalford 10.00am with confirmations by the Bishop of Gloucester MAY 2017 7th Parish Communion 9.30am 14th Family Communion 9.30am 21st Parish Communion 9.30am 28th Holy Communion (BCP) 8.00am Morning Worship 9.30am TELEPHONE NUMBERS VICAR Revd. Rosie Woodall 01452 771084 (until Easter Monday) CHURCHWARDENS Mr. David McKirgan 01285 760321 Mrs. Elisabeth White 01285 760729 BIBLE STUDY Is on 2nd and 4th Thursdays 3:30pm at The Coach House - for details please contact a Churchwarden. MORNING PRAYER is said in St. Bartholomew’s every Thursday at 8.00a.m.

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OTHER EVENTS Annual Parochial Meeting on Sunday 2nd April, after the service at the Church

– review of the previous year and election of officers.

NEWS FROM ST BARTHOLOMEWS The BIG news from St. Bartholomew’s is that our Vicar, Rosie Woodall, is

leaving us. The Communion Service on Easter Sunday will be her last service

with us before she goes to Leicester to take up the post of Bishop’s Chaplain.

Apart from her duties as the Bishop’s right-hand woman she will be Chaplain

to the new monastic community which is being created in Leicester for young

people who are wanting to spend a year in reflection, prayer and service to

the local community. The Archbishop of Canterbury led the way when he set

up the Community of St Anselm in Lambeth Palace in 2011 which has been

outstandingly successful. Leicester is the first diocese to follow the precedent.

We are delighted that Rosie’s great talents have been recognised and know

she will meet the challenges of her new role with the same determination,

hard work and deep religious knowledge and understanding which we have

been fortunate to have received during her time with us. We will miss her but

she goes with our very best wishes and thanks for all she has done for us.

During the vacancy the Reverend Stephen Jarvis will act as team leader, ably

supported by the Reverend Mike Clark and our Readers, Mrs Brenda Cox and

Mr John Cowen. We will also be able to call upon a number of retired priests

living nearby and are very grateful to them for volunteering to help us

maintain our pattern of services throughout the Benefice. Indeed, to call them

“retired” is a bit of a misnomer.

Stephen’s telephone number is 01453 884545 for those who need to contact

him.

We are now well into Lent and the Lent discussion group has been fully

subscribed. This is in preparation for Good Friday and Easter as we should

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remember that the events of the first Good Friday and the first Easter Sunday

are rather more than an excuse for hot cross buns and Easter bunnies.

We have in St Bartholomew’s a very beautiful Book of Remembrance in which

parishioners, past and present, can ask for the dates of loved ones to be

inscribed. For many years Margaret Kershaw very kindly wrote the entries in

lovely calligraphy but as she has sadly recently died, we need a new

calligrapher. Is anyone able and willing to do this? There is a backlog but

usually we have no more than about five entries a year. If you are able to

help, please let me know on 01285 760729 or email: biz@waitrose.com.

Bizzie White

OAKRIDGE W I From The Stroudwater Canal to Gifford's Circus, this will give you an idea of

the range of excellent talks enjoyed by us recently, with lots more to come in

the following months.

On 9th Feb Clive and Jill Field entertained, and informed us on the history of

The Cotswold Canals Trust. Stroudwater Canal was opened in 1779 and the

Thames and Severn Canal was opened in 1789. The Sapperton Tunnel being

the longest on this network. The Photographs which accompanied Clive’s talk

were really beautiful, and it was so interesting to learn the history of various

factories and places along the way. Teams of volunteers have done so much to

return the canal to its former glory.

March 13th brought Nell Gifford of Gifford's Circus to speak at our Open

Meeting and we were delighted to welcome so many visitors. Nell had always

had the dream of a circus, and following her mother's tragic accident which

left her in a coma, at 18 Nell had spent one month in America at Circus Flora

helping in the day to day work. She then achieved a degree in English at

Oxford University & knew by then that she wanted someday to run her own

circus. For the next few years she worked for English and several

European circuses learning all she could and doing every job necessary from

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maintenance to riding horses and elephants, making costumes, publicity and

front of house. Since starting Giffords Circus in 2000 with her husband Toti

they have entertained over 200,000 people and lived and worked with artists

from all over the world. (On a personal note, I am indebted to Anne Brain for

this Circus report as I was unable to attend the meeting).

Dates for your Diary:-

April 13th Ken Brightwell. Experiences of a Town Crier.

May 11th Resolutions meeting, followed by Pam Slater on The Cotswold

Perfumery.

Ann Fry

OAKRIDGE HISTORY GROUP

The first working session this year began to build up details of the lives of local

families using censuses, surveys, church and chapel registers, school logbooks,

house ownership records, the Oakridge community archive website and

information recorded by current and previous residents of this community. We

had lots of family trees spread out and people adding information about

individuals as they discovered it.

The February talk by Dr Steven Blake about “The Cotswold Way: 100 miles of

History” was enjoyed by a large group of people, including many of the

Oakridge Walking Group as well. It proved a great walk through both scenery

and history – from Belas Knap to Cold War bunkers.

In March Chas Townley will be speaking on “The History of Stroud Union

Workhouse” and then we will have two consecutive sessions working on the

lives of local families again. The dates for these are 26 April and 24 May and we

would very much welcome anyone who would like to join in the search for

details about the people who lived in and around Oakridge before us.

Kay Rhodes

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OAKRIDGE GARDEN CLUB Our AGM on the 7th February was dispatched with

outstanding efficiency entirely due to the organisational

skills of Pat Willey, our Secretary, and Lyn Alcock, our

Treasurer. They and all the Committee were warmly

thanked for all their hard work over the past year by the many members who

attended.

I stepped down as Chairman after three enjoyable years and Martin Wyatt was

enthusiastically voted in as our new Chairman.

Having disposed of the business we were rewarded by a display of the most

beautiful images of “Wild Flowers in the Cotswolds” by the Two Sues. Their

erudite notes accompanying the photographs made for a most enjoyable

evening.

Our next meeting is on the 4th April when Nathalie Mignotte will be our

speaker on “Islamic Gardens”. When I envisage Islamic gardens I think of cool

green shade, water, tranquillity, order… so different from my dishevelled

cottage garden. An exposition of the history and principles behind the creation

of an Islamic garden should be exceptionally interesting. Do come and join us.

Bizzie White

NATURE NOTES After quite a mild winter we are now enjoying

spring-like weather. Birds like mistle thrushes

have been singing loudly both in the morning and

in the evening. It is still early for chiff chaffs and

garden warblers to arrive in Britain but by the time you read this they may well

have been heard and seen. Several of us have seen a brimstone butterfly –

the first butterfly of the season.

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Recently on our bird table the robins have been entertaining us. One made

frantic efforts to feed off a hanging fat ball. With nothing to perch on, he (or

she) imitated a humming bird and managed a few pecks whilst frantically

flapping its wings! We now have two robins feeding and as they are fiercely

territorial, they must be pairing up – a nice sign of spring!

Roger Budgeon is interested in signs of a little owl in his barn. Pellets have

been identified and he wonders whether anyone has seen a little owl in that

area?

Another friend was tidying his garage and came across a lovely robin’s nest,

complete with three eggs in a bag hanging on a peg. He abandoned the

tidying and reports that the female robin has returned to her brood. Any

other interesting nest situations?

There have been several other sightings from friends in the village. Our

daughter has been visited by a jay more than once and loved the beautiful

blue colour. A friend had no fewer than 12 long tailed tits at the bird table and

others saw 36 field fare on the games field at the end of February.

We can now bring you news from Waterlane. Over to you, Alan.

Waterlane Nature Notes

I would like to introduce myself first. My name is Alan White and I will be

assisting Richard with his nature note observations from the Waterlane end of

things. Some of you may know me from the walking group.

Behind us the rooks are congregating in breeding colonies, where they nest

sociably high up in tall trees. Their noisy communal flight displays seem to

intensify during March; the recent storm in February didn’t seem to deter

them. The female builds the nest with materials brought by her mate and

these consist mainly of sticks and lined with leaves and moss.

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A welcome visitor to our garden that we have not seen for some time was the

tree creeper. It was amongst some tits and can be recognised by its down-

curved bill, white underparts and white eye-stripe. In its search for bark

dwelling insects it begins low on the trunk of the tree and always climbs up in

small hops.

Richard Mackie & Alan White

OAKRIDGE VILLAGE SHOP: OUT OF THE WOODS? First off, we would like to thank you all for the great response to our survey

(excellent feedback!) and to those who have made a real effort in trying to

keep the shop alive, we salute you! It's really been encouraging to see how

many of you have gone out of your way to help keep us going. A special shout

out to those who have placed weekly orders (thank you, John, for your

wonderful suggestion!) It certainly has an impact and eases off the pressure.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Now, we would love to say that the

shop is in the clear but unfortunately, that's not the case, not yet. We are

hoping the changes we are undergoing will be a contributing and positive

factor but, we need EVERYONE'S support to keep this shop alive. So please

keep it up, guys!

Laura & Oscar

LADIES' EVENINGS AT THE BUTCHERS ARMS We had the first of our Ladies' Evenings (after a 2 year gap) on 8th March - and

it was a great evening, with over 20 ladies in total!

The idea of these is simply to get together regularly for a chat and a catch-up,

and to welcome new people to the village. It's totally informal - you can drop

in at any point during the evening and make it as short or as long as you like.

Ladies' Evenings will always be on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, at the

Butchers' Arms, from around 8pm. Here are the dates for the next few

months, for you to put in your diary:

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Weds 12th April Weds 10th May

Weds 14th June Weds 12th July

If you’d like to receive reminder emails, please send your email address to

Penny Newton at penny@thecommtroubleshooter.co.uk

If you have any other queries about Ladies’ Evening, please contact Sue Harris

on emailsueharris@gmail.com or 01285 762834

VILLAGE SHOW NEWS The Village Show Committee held a meeting on 23rd February to discuss this

year’s show. Sadly only one new person turned up. Donald Gardiner is retiring

from his post as treasurer, the Committee would like to thank Don for all his

time and hard work over the past two years. At present there is no one to take

on this role. Don is kindly putting together some guidelines for his successor, if

you are interested please contact someone on the Committee.

Date for your diaries; Village Show, Saturday September 2nd

Committee- John Loosely 760460, David Cook 760488,

Caroline Priestley 760969, Mark Barnett, Karen Hunt, Alison Hewitt

OAKRIDGE VILLAGE HALL ROOF APPEAL Fantastic, outstanding, brilliant are some of the reactions to the result of the

village hall roof appeal. We have raised £10,000 including gift aid thanks to the

generosity of the community. This means that we will not have to use as much

of our reserves as we feared. We are working to make the hall a pleasant, safe

and welcoming place and a facility the community can be proud of. This all

takes money and we need to generate more use of the hall to increase our

revenue. If you have ideas as to how the hall can be used and want to organise

events or know of groups outside the village who may be interested in hiring

the hall please let me know at john@loosleyj.freeserve.co.uk, tel 01285

760460.

John Loosley

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FROM OAKRIDGE SCHOOL KS2

In KS2 as our topic is bright sparks we have been making

hex-bug models out of things like polystyrene and

cardboard.

We have also been on a trip to the steam museum in Swindon by train, when

we got there we went into the main part of the museum to do a workshop

that was all about how an engineer called Isambard Kingdom Brunel who

planned and built the first passenger railway the Great Western Railway. He

had lots of obstacles that were in his way: rivers, hills and people because they

were scared of trains and thought that if you went that fast it would boil your

brains which is a silly thought. After the workshop we went to look around the

museum and we had to fill in a sheet about Brunel and his assistant, Daniel

Gooch after all the excitement we left with lots of memories of the steam

museum.

Some of class 2 have also been in a hockey tournament in Stratford Park in

Stroud well done to all involved. Also we have had a couple of cross-country

races and a few of us won medals for being in the top twelve and well done to

all involved.

We also had an Airbus engineer come in and we all learnt lots about Airbus

and their future, past and now, especially about the Airbus A380, also we

made our own vehicles using k-nex.

KS1

In KS1 we have been learning about volcanoes we have been making

volcanoes out of clay, bottles, bicarbonate soda. Also we made and labelled

posters of volcanoes on 2 simple. Reception made them out of Lego.

Also we have been on a school trip to the Cotswold Wildlife Park for a reptile

encounter we got to hold a snake as well as being able to see all the other

animals there, we had a great time and we learnt a lot about animals.

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Red Nose Day

On the 24 March it will be Red Nose Day. We will be doing lots of things to

fundraise and it is being run by The Pupil Council (Pierce,Y6 Bude,Y5 Monty,Y4

Matilda, Y3 Sam,Y2 and Seb,Y1).

By Pierce and Kim, Y6

NEWS FROM THE OAKRIDGE SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

Plans are well under way for the annual May Revels on 20th May; please do

look out for the posters advertising the event, and the requests for donations

of books/cakes etc. Raffle tickets will as usual be available in advance from

the Shop for those who are unable to join us on the day.

Now that Spring is with us, if you are looking to clear out your wardrobes we

will be arranging a collection of clean unwanted clothing through the

Bag2School scheme in early May. The school will receive a donation per kilo

collected, and bags will be available from either the school office or Ollie’s

Shop from 24th April. As there is no space in school for storage, please leave

bags outside the school by 9am on the collection day – 5th May.

Items wanted are good quality adult and children’s clothing; paired shoes;

hats; belts; handbags; ties and scarves; bedding (sheets, pillow cases, duvet

covers); curtains; towels; household linen; and soft toys. Not accepted:

duvets; blankets; pillows or cushions; carpets/rugs/mats; soiled or ripped

items; school uniform; corporate clothing; or textile offcuts. Bag2School is a

business, not a charity, specialising in collecting unwanted textiles in good

condition which are then sold to export markets worldwide for general public

use.

Victoria Beard

PARISH NOTES Now that we have had a glimpse of some fine Spring weather, please could a

reminder go out to light bonfires in the evening if possible, to allow

neighbours an opportunity to dry washing, or just sit and enjoy the early

sunshine!

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RAINWATCH

The rainfall during January and February, as measured by

my rain gauge, was as follows:-

January.....83mms.....about 3.5 inches

February.....48mms.....about 2 inches

So far in March, up to the 12th, …..36mm…..almost 1.5 inches has fallen - February certainly did not fulfil its "fill-dyke" reputation! Bob Gardiner

WARD NEWS

Due to limited space, Councillor Williams’ report has been included in an

abridged version - please also see the Parish Council website for more Ward

information.

Frith Youth Centre Brownshill Road, Bussage, opposite the skate ramp

Open times

Mondays 6.30pm till 9.15pm Thursdays 6.30pm till 9.15pm Fridays 7.00pm till 9.15pm

Various fun & games, table tennis, pool table, air hockey, music, food,

tuck shop, free wifi

Qualified, experienced staff to ensure a safe environment for young people

For information about activities contact laura@frithyouthcentre.co.uk

To hire the building or volunteer to help contact frithyouthcentre@hotmail.com

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Fly Tipping

I am concerned that in the recent months we have seen an increase in fly

tipping across our ward. To date, any waste I have identified to SDC has been

collected within 24hrs - but that doesn’t really tackle the issue. I would like to

propose the following:

Short term - Please report all fly tipping to SDC or myself.

Long Term - I am discussing the concept of taking a more active stance on fly

tipping using some of the case studies from the National Fly Tipping

Prevention Group as a guide. On their website, there are a number of case

studies that highlight how local authorities and police have worked together

on the matter, and there are a number of campaigns that have dramatically

reduced spates of fly tipping that we could pilot.

Shed Break-ins

A message from Steve Phillipson: “I just wanted to raise your attention to a

trend identified at Stroud P.S. of a rise in shed and garage break-ins, also

unoccupied holiday lets. Please give some attention to ensuring these

structures are secured and please give some thought to how adequate your

security is relative to the contents”

Bins

It has been brought to my attention that some community bins are

overflowing. Park waste bins are supposed to be collected weekly so if they

are not, I need to know which ones they are so we can get it resolved.

Please get in touch if you have any district related matters. Equally, if you have

county matters, I am happy to ensure they are delivered to the right person.

Timothy.er.williams@outlook.com or ring SDC and leave a message for me on

01453 766321.

Councillor Tim Williams

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Your vote matters so make sure you’re registered! Ahead of the County Council Elections taking place on Thursday 4 May 2017, Stroud District Council is urging its residents to get involved by registering to vote. Since the law changed in June 2014, every individual is now responsible for their own registration, rather than registering as a household. Anyone who has changed their address or is a new voter needs to make sure that they are registered. Not being on the electoral register could also affect your credit rating. Registering to vote is easy and can be done online by visiting www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. Those registering will need to provide their date of birth and national insurance number. Anyone without internet can contact the elections team. You can register to vote at any time, but the deadlines for registration ahead of the election are:

Last date for Registration – Thursday 13 April 2017

Last date for Postal Vote Applications – Tuesday 18 April 2017

Last date for Proxy Vote Applications – Tuesday 25 April 2017

If you would like to know more about electoral registration, or request registration forms, please contact the elections team. Phone: 01453 754 886 email: elections@stroud.gov.uk www.stroud.gov.uk/vote

OAKRIDGE PLAYERS PRESENTS Well, the Oakridge Players have been busy deciding on next productions and are now able to let you know that we have two for you this year!

For one night only…. Welcome to El Paradiso ~ a radio play with a difference! 7th July 2017 And…

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Hi-de-Hi! Remember the comedy series set in the 1950s? 16th to 18th November 2017 Watch out for more details as the productions draw nearer, and keep up to date with us at www.oakridgeplayers.com New members always welcome – whether you like to act, direct, produce or work behind the scenes! Penny Newton

DO YOU NEED A HALL

OR

MEETING SPACE? THEN TRY

OAKRIDGE VILLAGE HALL

• 12 x 7.5 metre open space plus a curtained stage, and seating capacity of up to

100

• A fully equipped kitchen opens onto the main hall

• Separate 5 x 3 metre Meeting/Changing Room

• Licensed for Live and Recorded Music, Dance, Theatre and Film

• Trestle tables and card tables

Charges: £9 per hour including heating and electricity; full kitchen use extra

(Discount for Oakridge community residents)

Further information and charges can be obtained from:

John Loosley, Tel: 01285 762460 or email john@loosleyj.freeserve.co.uk

SOUTH WEST BRITTANY

Family home available for couples or

family holidays. Sleeps 6.

1.5 hours from Roscoff.

Details & availability from John Bailey

01285 760659

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

April 2017

1st Bingo Night, Village Hall 5.00pm – 8.00pm

4th Oakridge Garden Club, Village Hall 7.30pm

9th Family Communion with Breakfast at Bart’s 9.30am

12th Luncheon Club, Village Hall 11.00am – 2.00pm

13th W.I. meeting, Village Hall 7.30pm

16th Family Communion, Easter Day 9.30am

26th Luncheon Club, Village Hall 11.00am – 2.00pm

26th History Group, Village Hall 7.30pm

May 2017

4th Local elections, Village Hall

10th Luncheon Club, Village Hall 11.00am – 2.00pm 11th W.I. meeting, Village Hall 7.30pm 14th Family Communion 9.30am

20th May Revels, Oakridge School 1.00pm – 4.00pm

21st Closing Date for What’s On

24th Luncheon Club, Village Hall 11.00am – 2.00pm

24th History Group, Village Hall 7.30pm

21st CLOSING DATE WHAT’S ON

Editors:

Victoria Beard, Tel 01285 760339, email victoria.beard2@btinternet.com

Gill Davis, Hungerfords, Oakridge Lynch, Tel 01285 760354

email Gillaquarius@aol.com

E&OE