CHADRA

3

The NNRT made its eleventh summer visit to Mina 1 Mai village in August. Allan Hughes and I travelled with the second team and the main project for the male workers was to build buttresses to support the collapsing wall of the psychiatric hospital.

You have probably all heard of the torrential rain this summer in middle and Eastern Europe. Our region was no exception; the rain came down in ‘stair rods’ daily. There were serious floods further south and three days after we returned home a neighbouring village was flooded and two people were killed. However, all our friends there survived.

Eventually the building work was successfully completed, in spite of the extremely adverse conditions – feet in mud and bodies soaked.

Some of us were luckier. Two electricians rewired the gloomy kitchen and began the lengthy task of rewiring throughout the hospital to British Standards. At present the system is pretty dangerous although amazingly enough we have never heard of any fatalities.

Three of us care workers were also under cover working with the patients. However, we too got pretty wet running backwards and forwards from our quarters with hot water and toiletries as the hospitals only has hot water one day a week.

On the subject of toiletries your contributions have been so generous. We collected from several sources but I think that folk from Charfield alone supplied enough for each of 137 patients to receive a flannel, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste. These were handed out on our last day and gave them much pleasure.

So, many thanks to all of you – I am very grateful for your kindness. By the way, if any of you are interested I have videos of our time in Romania, photos etc and would be happy to show them.

Wendy Stevens, 01453 84xxxx

We held our AGM at the start of October and I was pleased by the number of parents that turned up to support us. One outcome of the AGM is that I have taken over the Chair from Claire Adams, who spent the past year working very hard for the school and keeping the rest of us enthusiastic about the important job we do raising funds.

My name is Jacqui Mitchell, and I have lived in the village for five years. I have two children who attend Charfield School, Harvey (6) and Poppy (4). I am looking forward to the challenge that being Chairperson brings and I am hoping we can raise as much money as possible this year to boost the much needed funds of Charfield Primary School.

I am extremely lucky to have a very strong committee behind me, which includes both members old and new, who are all committed to helping the school, as well as many parents who have offered their help and support as and when needed. Thank you to everyone.

By the time this edition of Chadra is published, we will have organised two events. A Quiz Night on October 4th which was very well supported and a great success with a total of £330.00 raised, and a Shopping Evening on October 16th which included Chocoholics, the Body Shop, Wotton's Tolsey shop, Studio Cards and more – providing an ideal opportunity for Christmas presents and stocking fillers to be bought.

Our next event is a Children's Halloween Disco on Friday, November 1st, 6.30pm–9pm. Tickets cost £1.50 and there is a ‘Fancy Dress Only’ dress code. Games, 4face painting and competition prizes for the best-dressed boy and girl are among the attractions.

Our biggest event, and most frightening from my point of view as Chairperson, is the Bonfire & Firework Display on Friday, 8th November. Publicity details follow this report.

Other events planned for this year are the Christmas Fair on Saturday, 7th December, where you can spend the afternoon meeting the man himself – Father Christmas will be in his grotto throughout the Fair – as well as enjoying the many stalls we are currently in the process of finalising. Rounding off our first term will be the Christmas Disco on Friday, 20th December.

Events for 2003 are still in the planning stages; however, we are always interested in new ideas, and would welcome any input from Charfield residents regarding new fund-raising activities.

If you would like to contact me with any ideas, or for further information regarding any of our events, please contact me on: 01454 26xxxx

Jacqui Mitchell

Charfield School is hosting what is promised to be it's most explosive firework display to date, with over £1,000 worth of fireworks set to illuminate the Charfield skyline.

However, for the sensitive among us and following its success at last years event, the ‘Quiet Room’ will again be a big feature of the evening, allowing our younger visitors a safe haven where they can play in a quiet, supervised environment.

In a change to previous years, gates will open at 6.00pm. The evening will begin with the Best Guy competition at around 6.30pm and the Bonfire will be lit at 6.45pm. Then at 7.00pm, the fantastic firework display will begin and is expected to last for over 30 minutes.

Refreshments available include hot and cold drinks, mulled wine and freshly cooked food. The ever-popular Omniglow light bands will be on sale together with toffee apples and sweets.

Tickets prices remain the same as last year: Advance tickets cost £2.50 for adults and £1.50 for children (aged 4–15 years) and are available from Charfield Post Office, Charfield Garage and the school office. On the gate admission will be £3.00 for adults and £2.00 for children. Any unaccompanied children/teenagers will be charged £3.00.

For the safety conscious, the display is registered under the Bonfire & Fireworks Display Scheme and a fully qualified first aider will be in attendance.

Last year this event was fantastically well supported by residents of Charfield and the surrounding areas and as all proceeds go directly to the school's funds we hope everyone will again come along and support us and of course have a great night.

Jacqui Mitchell

Last minute change of plan …

Unfortunately, due to the school's renovation work, we are unable to have a Fire this year. Temporary classrooms on the school field are not covered by our insurance. Even so, we can assure you that the evening will run as usual and there will be a Guy Competition.

The Fireworks will now move forward and replace the Bonfire lighting at 6.45pm. We appreciate your support – the Fireworks should be spectacular!

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6

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8

Well, since the last edition of Chadra, the Francksen family have certainly had their fifteen minutes of fame! Shortly after the copies had been distributed, we had a phone call from a lovely lady at the Bristol Evening Post asking if she could interview me by phone about Andrew's accident and our subsequent fundraising for the equipment for the Eye Hospital. They then sent a photographer and John and Andrew appeared on the front of the Evening Post! I never realized how wide the circulation of the Post is but one of my workplaces is in Bristol and the next time that I was there, 3 people had cut the article out for me and many more mentioned that they had seen it!

The sponsorship offers started to come after that article (although a big thank you to everyone who rang us a result of the original plea in Chadra, or signed up at the Post Office, Steve's Shop, the Garage or the Church!!).

It suddenly hit me half way through July that £1700 is a great deal of money to raise from scratch and though I never considered giving up – not even for a minute – I was very worried that we may not achieve it just through sponsorship for John's Great North Run. There were, I felt, several factors to this. The main one was that John changed his job in September and I assumed that he would not have had enough time to build work relationships with his new colleagues so could not really expect monetary support. How wrong can you be? The new company is based in Hertford so I have obviously not met any of these people but I have seen their very genuine replies to the e-mail that John sent out after his first month and they are overwhelmingly supportive and almost proud of his intention to run and eager to support his cause. My other worries were that this is the 3rd big fundraising run that John has undertaken and there is a limit to what even your friends can be asked for! Again this became a non-worry – in the last few weeks I have rarely returned from shopping in Wotton, returning the videos or paying the paper bill without someone giving me some money “for John's run”. We even collected £20 from 3 different people at the KLB Open Evening!!

During my “oh my goodness” phase, I decided to do a Car Boot sale to raise some more money. I took advice from friends who had done them before and the whole family spent a day sorting out boxes of stuff, cleaning and repairing things and pricing them. Despite the early start and rather grey day, we were very busy, sold all but two boxes and made £120! I made a display out of the Evening Post article and put a collecting tin on the table – this was my Dad's inspired idea and quite a lot of people put some money in or donated their change after buying something. It is amazing how many people have been treated by the Eye Hospital – we are so lucky to have a leading eye hospital as our ‘local’.

We were then also contacted by the Gazette, who ran an article just before the Great North Run and then, as the day drew nearer, the sponsorship trickle gained momentum, much to my relief!

As for Andrew himself, we have now been signed off by the hospital and he is very proud of his new cool glasses – thank goodness for Harry Potter! He may need for an operation in the future if there is a chance of improving his sight any more but – for the moment at least – we have closure (as the Americans say!).

The end of September saw the last of our run of birthdays – we are all beautifully spaced a pay-day apart from June to September! This year, we celebrated John's on a Saturday and mine fell on a Sunday. Elizabeth was most put out to discover that despite her Big Day it was still a Friday – business as usual – and she had to go to school. “Andrew didn't have to go on his Birthday”, she complained. I 9pointed out that this was because it was in August.

Resourceful as ever, she then announced that when she was grown up she would ensure that she didn't work on her birthday by booking the day off. Andrew was very quick to reassure her; “You won't have to, Lizzie, “ he said. “When you're old (he meant like John and I!) you can organize it with God so that your birthday happens at the weekend!

What a lovely idea – if only it were true!

Tracy Francksen

We are now down to fifteen members, we really could do with a few new ones to help keep the club alive. It would be a great shame to see it fold after thirty odd years.

We had quite a successful bring and buy in July, which helped to keep us solvent.

We went to Minehead with Wickwar in September, and had a lovely day with fine weather.

Later in the month we had a dinner together in the Tavern, and have started thinking about our Christmas dinner. It doesn't seem too far away now.

M. Ealey, Secretary

Autumn is with us again and the nights are ‘drawing in’. So can I please ask all Brownie parents when they collect their daughters from Brownies at 7.15 PM to come into the village hall and not wait in their cars for their daughter to run across the dark car park. We must look after our children and keep them safe from harm.

On a lighter note, I hope that everyone read the article in the Gazette about me leaving Brownies and how the Brownies do not want the pack the close. I am disappointed that no one in Charfield has come forward to help, but ‘fingers crossed’, I think I know someone who is willing to take on the role of Brown Owl to 2nd Charfield Brownies. This young woman is keen and willing but she will need help, she cannot do it on her own. So can I please ask again for anyone who thinks that they might like to help to come and speak to me or ring me on 07815 85xxxx.

On that note I bid my farewells. I will miss my Brownies very much, but it's time for someone younger to take control. Many thanks to everyone who has helped me over the years.

I leave you with a few quotes from a recent Guiding leaflet:
Positive praise far outweighs negative nagging.
We need time to dream, time to remember, time to be.
Happiness is contagious – be a carrier.
The only way to make a friend is to be one.
Learn from the mistakes of others – you won't live long enough to make them all yourself.
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
We shouldn't be afraid to take a big step – you can't jump a chasm in two small steps.
Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

Trish Cole, Brown Owl

This is a new piece for Chadra, so let me take some time in introducing ourselves, and giving a little bit of history. We are Wotton-under-Edge TKD club of Charfield, and we were set up by Andy Reynolds on November 7th 2000. Tae Kwon Do is a Korean Martial Art, founded by Major General Choi Hong Hi 9th Dan, on April 11th 1955. It has been in the UK for 35 years. Our club is part of the Tae Kwon 10Do Association of Great Britain (T.A.G.B) which is coming up to it's 20th birthday. It is the biggest Martial Arts association in the World!

Charfield TKD Instructor, Andy Reynolds, is presently a Second Dan in TKD, and has been training for over 16 years. He has a lot of experience of teaching, however, this is his first club. He recently opened a sister club in Chipping Sodbury, in April of this year, which is also proving to be very successful. He is training towards his Third Dan, and pre-graded in front of Master Dew 7th Dan, successfully on September 29th.

I am Rebecca Pring, a First Dan, with 8 years of TKD experience. I have also recently undergone a pre-grading, for my Second Dan. We will both be grading mid-October, so will hopefully be promoted by the time Chadra is issued!

We teach all aspects of TKD – the traditional martial art, sparring, games, pad-work, and lots of high flashy kicks!

So, who are the students? We have nearly 60 students training with us at present, and our youngest is Elise Clements at 5, and our oldest is … well, I won't go into that!! We run three separate classes in Charfield – one for Kids, one for Youths, and one for Adults, and we meet twice a week at the Primary School. The club has a great atmosphere, and it doesn't stop at training. We can be quite a sociable bunch sometimes!

With the formalities over and done with, what have we been up to lately?
The students have been training hard for their gradings, which were held on October 9th and 12th. They grade every 3 months until they reach Blue-belt, and then it changes to every six-months (as long as they put a lot of effort in).

The last grading, in July, saw our founder-member children make it to Senior-grade. This means they have achieved their Blue-belts, and are officially ‘senior-students.’ The hardworking bunch were, Alex Holden (7), Ben and Emily Waldron (8/10), Amy Saunders (14), Nicola Richings (13), Chris Goss (13), Elizabeth Francksen (11), Barney Eccleson (14), Oliver Baker (12) and Lisa Parker (13). Well done to all of you! Remember that it's now up to you to set the example to the junior grades.

At each grading, students who perform exceedingly well, achieve an ‘A-pass.’ Out of these select few, one of them is presented with a Grading Award. This award goes to the student who impressed the examiner the most. It comes down to attitude, technique, focus, and improvement. The winner of Octobers grading was Laura Dally, who achieved 9th Kup. Well done – hard work definitely pays off!

Charfield TKD is now on the web! July saw the launch of www.andystkd.co.uk, so check it out. It holds all details on TKD, our club and training times, Korean theory, photos, a forum and much, much more. Andystkd.co.uk also has links to other clubs sites, and to the TAGB and TAGB times websites.

What next …
Well, the students will now be working towards their next grading, which is due to be held in January. We, of course, have Christmas in-between (can you believe it?!!). Christmas brings a lot of fun – chubby bunnies, silly hats, and all kinds of mayhem on the last class! We also have the Southwest of England Christmas party on December 1st, at Oscars Nightclub in Longleat (adults only). This involves all TKD clubs in the Southwest.
The next tournament is in November, which is the Adult British Championships. Hopefully our presence will be felt, and we'll be returning with a few medals in tow!

Sounds like fun?
We are always enrolling students, so if you fancy giving it a go, give Andy a call on 1107909 92xxxx, or simply turn up (training times below). You are never too old to do TKD, and we are offering a special 2-months free to any over-30s. Don't let being unfit put you off – that's the whole point in starting!

Training times are:
Tuesdays and Thursdays (Charfield Primary School)
Kids 5.00–6.15
Youths 6.15–7.25
Adults 7.30–8.40

Rebecca Pring

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I have just returned from a journey to Tyneside to run the 2002 Great North Run for the Bristol Eye Hospital. It was a great event – 47,000 runners competing in the world's largest half marathon from Newcastle, across the famous Tyne bridge to finish 13.1 miles later on the seafront at South Shields.

My hotel turned out to be in the middle of clubland in Newcastle so getting to sleep on Saturday night was quite a problem! Also, being woken by police sorting out some drunken youths in the road outside at 2am ensured I was yawning on the startline next morning. After a 7am breakfast I headed on foot to the start, pinned on my number 21468, put my kitbag on the baggage lorry then waited patiently for the 10.40am start. We were eventually started by the rower Matthew Pinsett (who also took part) and off we went.

I was concerned with how my leg would react to a full halfmarathon since breaking it in January, but I soon forgot about it. The sheer number of runners made it impossible to run at a decent pace as it was so congested, and dodging round people was tiring. Also someone would just stop running in front of you and start walking, so you would go straight into them if you were not careful. I settled for a steady pace to see if I could run all the way round (which I did), to collect my sponsor money for the intravenous pump. The course was quite rolling, the weather was sunny and not too hot.

The drink stations were a bit of a scrum, with everyone diving to get their bottle of mineral water. There was plenty of entertainment enroute with bands and singers to keep you occupied. I ran with three Elvis' at one point and there were many celebrities taking part and raising money, along with many other runners, for numerous charities. Soon the sea was in sight and a left turn took you onto the front but there was still over a mile to go! I watched the Red Arrows give a display as I finished in 2 hours 22 minutes. My name came up on the TV of the race coverage so more publicity for the Eye Hospital. I will have raised about £1500 so I am happy to do something to thank them for saving Andrew's eye.

Many thanks to all who sponsored me and please put me in a quieter hotel next year!

John Francksen

12

Puzzle Page Answers

13[Advert for Pat Jeanes reflexology]

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14

Well, who would have thought it? Wellie-free walking for months now! If your freezer is not full to the rim with blackberries and your cupboards not sighing with sloe gin, you have only yourself to blame. As I write, we are still in the throes of an Indian Summer, but I fear this will soon end. Heh ho.

Now, to business, I am delighted to report that the collapsed bridge on footpath OCH 2 at Huntingford has now been replaced, thanks to the Tortworth Estate Company. It is still awaiting side rails, but is usable. It is an unattractive and huge concrete replacement for a sweet little arched stone confection, but we have the Environment Agency to thank for this. The EA demanded a certain height and width of bridge to comply with modern legislation – flood plain requirements, etc. – and this is the result. We must, however, be grateful for the reinstatement of the footpath.

I walked the paths South of Devil's Lane recently, and found that where the cattle have churned up wet ground in gateways, there are currently rock hard deep, deep ruts. Given some rain, these ankle-turning ruts will become wellington-gobbling mud bogs. We can't do much about this, but be warned and wear suitable footwear. Snowshoes might be helpful!

There have been some problems due to misuse of footpaths, so bear with me whilst I state the obvious.

Rights of way (RoW) have their origin in the routes used over centuries by the public to reach their place of work or the next village by the best route on foot. These RoW have since been clearly defined on the definitive map (copy with the Parish Council) and we now use them primarily for recreational purposes.

Please note: Public Rights of Way in Charfield are ALL FOOTPATHS. We have no bridleways or byways in the Parish. (For your interest, pathways which are not Rights of Way are called ‘footways’.)

What your rights allow:

• you may use a footpath to walk from place to place.

That's about it. However,

• you may stop for a while and admire the view
• you may sit down by the side of the path to rest, providing that you do not cause an obstruction
• you can carry articles such as a camera or binoculars, or articles you are transporting in a backpack or bag
• you may, if the terrain and stiles make it practicable, wheel a pram, pushchair, or wheelchair on any right of way. This does NOT mean the footpath has to be accessible for all prams, pushchairs, or wheelchairs.

Just to spell it out, bicycles are NOT allowed on footpaths.

In return for this blessing of access to the wonderful countryside around us, we just have to follow the Country Code:

• Enjoy the countryside and respect its life and work.
• Guard against all risk of fire.
• Leave all gates as you find them (secure closed gates, leave open gates as they are).
• Keep dogs under CLOSE control and do not allow them to foul the footpath or farmland.
• Keep to the footpath.
• Use gates and stiles to cross fences, hedges, and walls.
• Leave livestock, machinery, and crops alone. Remember too that grass is also a crop.
• Take your litter home.
• Help to keep all water clean.
• Protect wildlife, plants, and trees.
• Make no unnecessary noise.

15All very reasonable, common sense stuff, don't you agree? So how is it that a huge silage bale is in the Little Avon below the weir at Huntingford, that kind hearted walkers have been picking up bagloads of plastic and glass bottles, glass shards and other rubbish from the fields where cattle are grazing, that drugs paraphernalia was picked up on Elbury Hill, that small trees and saplings have been torn down, that stone bridges and culverts are being dismantled, and that mountain bikes are being ridden on the railway embankment?

Also, the popular footpaths nearest the village (e.g. OCH 16 from Hawthorn Close to Churchend, OCH 12 past the school, OCH 11 from the subway to Elbury Hill) are covered in dog poo. We are all used to picking up after our pooches around the village – we just have to extend the good work. There are just too many dogs using too small an area and we cannot shrug our shoulders any more. Please do the right thing. (Yes, I do have a dog. A large one. He eats a lot. I get through a lot of plastic bags.)

We are very fortunate in Charfield to have landowners/tenants who are very reasonable and responsible when it comes to footpaths. Please play the game and reciprocate.

That's enough carping and harping for one issue! Please, put on your walking shoes, get out and about, and get some fresh air in your lungs – it can only do you good.

Julia O'Connor-Beach
Voluntary Footpath Warden

Update on the Skateboard Area – As I reported in the last CHADRA issue, some young people aided by their parents, have been trying to raise funds for this project. The PC has also allocated some funds, and recently we learned that we have been awarded a grant from South Gloucestershire Council to the value of £6,000. A special thank you should be said to Mrs. Sandra O'Neill, our new PC member because she was present at the Area Forum meeting when these grants were being allocated. Mrs. O'Neill spoke about the skateboard project and thanks partly to her efforts, the amount allocated to us was increased to £6,000 instead of the original sum of £4,000. We now have about half of the total amount needed for this project. If there is anyone out there with any brilliant ideas for further fund raising, please share them with us or with the Youth Group.

Play Equipment – Some of you might have noticed the new hand rails on the mound slide. We had these added on the advice of ROSPA who come and check the equipment annually. This was an expensive addition to our existing equipment and I am sad to say that by the second day that they were there, these rails had been vandalised. We had to call the contractors back almost immediately to secure the rails again! There are also some new basket ball nets which we provided because some of the young people actually requested that they be put there. Again it saddens me to have to report that one of these was pulled off in another act of mindless vandalism. Not only is this frustrating and expensive for the PC but it really is totally unfair on the young people in our village who want to use this equipment properly. I again urge anyone who sees anything or knows who is responsible for this destructive behaviour, to let the police or a member of the PC know. Could I also ask parents to remind their youngsters, particularly those youngsters who spend time at the playing field, that the equipment is there for the benefit of all of our young people and to look after it, as I'm sure many of them already do.

Whilst I am on the subject of young people, I would like to tell you about a new initiative that the PC would eventually like to set up. We have recently been provided with some information about Youth Parish Councils, 16which have been started in other parts of the country. We would like to look into the possibility of setting up a Youth PC here in Charfield. So if there are any youngsters out there who want to have a say in local matters, why not come along to a PC meeting to find out what it's all about? We will hopefully be inviting a guest speaker, who has more information about Youth PCs, along to one of our regular meetings in the New Year.

Site Hut –As many of you know the PC now has ownership of this site. Some residents who live near the site have recently approached the PC with some plans to landscape the site and make it more attractive. They have clearly put a great deal of thought and work into their proposals and they have come up with some initial plans that they would like the PC to consider. The PC welcome the ideas put forward by residents and we now intend to explore this further by holding a site meeting with this group of residents. If anyone else would like to express an opinion about the site they are welcome to speak to any of the councillors, write to the clerk or attend one of our regular meetings, which are held on the second Tuesday of the month at the Sportsman's Lounge, Charfield Memorial Hall.

Finally can I remind you all that we will be holding the Budget Meeting on the 3rd December, and any village organisations intending to submit a grant application should do so by the end of November. Please remember to include a copy of your accounts along with any grant application. Thank you.

Jayne Pedley – Vice Chair.

Forthcoming events:
(Events are usually held in the school and further details will be published nearer the time)

Barn Dance / Annual Draw (Fri, 6 December)

This is the first event of this kind for a number of years and promises to be great fun. The band, Aaron's Rod, are known across the country and are amongst the best in the area. We will combine it with the draw of the winning tickets for our Annual Raffle.

Beetle Drive (Fri, 31 January, 2003)

A first for the PTA and should be a thoroughly enjoyable evening. More details and tickets nearer the time.

Promises Auction (Fri 28 March 2003)

It is a few years since we organised a promises auction. If you can make a promise or know someone who might be able to come up with something then we would like to hear from you – then, put the date in your diary and come along. More details later.

An advertisement

Organised and operated by the Chair of the KLB School Governors and Charfield resident Margaret Clarke, the ‘Not the Lottery’ scheme still has a few spare places on it. The game is based on the number of the bonus ball in the weekly National Lottery. If you would like to commit yourself to a little flutter of £1 on a weekly basis over the year at the same time as raising money for the school then contact Margaret on 01454 26xxxx. You never know – it could be you winning the £30 and unlike the Premium Bonds I have met those who have won more than once!

And finally …

The PTA owns a large Marquee that is available in return for a fixed donation to the school. Measuring 25ft × 14ft, a suggested donation of £60 (inc. supply and erection) is asked for the first day and £10 17a day thereafter. Bookings can be taken by Margaret Clarke on 01454 26xxxx.

For further details on any of the above please feel free to contact Trevor Mason, PTA Committee Member, on 01453 84xxxx

Trevor Mason

[Advert for Barbara Daw]

We currently have 12 registered childminders in Charfield. Our annual inspection is now carried out by Ofsted officials and sounds even more nerve-wracking than the previous inspections but in practice most things are still the same.

We've all spent a busy summer. We started by celebrating ‘National Childminding Week’ in June with a Teddy Bears' picnic at the Playing Field. Since then we've spent many a happy hour at the field so the weather can't have been too bad! Various members have been further afield to such places as Cattle Country, Slimbridge WWT and Softplay at Thornbury Leisure Centre – it wears the childminders out even if the children are still full of beans.

The ‘Dab Hands’ sessions continued through the school holidays, as school age children are welcome to join in the fun. We meet at the Village Hall on a Monday morning from 10.00 to 12.00 and all childminders, parents, nannies and other carers are very welcome to join us. So if you feel like forgetting the housework on a Monday morning come along and join us.

If I dare mention Christmas in October I can tell you that we are already thinking about our Christmas party. As in previous years we are offering to do your Early Learning Centre shopping for you. We are able to claim a discount, which we then use to fund the party. Order forms and catalogues are available so feel free to take advantage of our offer. Last orders must be received by Friday November 29th.

By the time you read this article many happy families will have received their family portraits. David Elam came to the village earlier in October and was his usual patient self with the children. The time and effort he puts in is always extremely worthwhile.

If any parents are looking for registered childcare for their children our vacancy co-ordinators are Teresa Wildman and Julie James and they can be contacted on 01454 26xxxx and 01453 84xxxx. If you require general information please approach any childminder – we don't bite and we're happy to help if we can.

Although there was no Summer Fayre this year the usual Grand Draw still took place. It was well supported and a profit of £514.00 was realised for Village Hall funds.

18Thanks are due to those who went round the village selling the tickets and to the following local businesses for donating the prizes. Mr. Kevin Morris of Barden Network Engineering Ltd. very kindly donated the first prize of £100.00. It was won by Ross Burchill who is a university student – he'll surely find a good use for it. The remaining prizes were given by Bristol City FC, Cattle Country, Charfield Cricket Club, Charfield Filling Station, Charfield Garage, Charfield Post Office, Frobishers Fruit Juices, Jones Bros., The Massage Table Store, MJ Fews, The Pear Tree, The Plough, The Railway Tavern, Slimbridge WWT, SNFA Bearings, Steve's Shop and Tesco Stores of Thornbury.

The support for this fund-raiser is very much appreciated. Thank you!

This season five teams are competing at under 10's, 11's, 13's, 14's and 15's. Over seventy boys have signed on to play, supported by an entourage of parents and generous sponsors' ensuring the club remains healthy and progressive. Matches are played on a Saturday morning or either Sunday morning or afternoon – spectators are always welcome.

The Moreton Ground, the clubs new facilities next to Tortworth Primary School, is now in full swing after two years of hard work and considerable effort. A new pitch, being used for both mini soccer and the eleven a side game now complement the village playing field and school grounds. Another pitch is planned which will the give the club further opportunities to run teams at under 9's, 10's and 13's next season. This always depends on managers coming forward with players – the club will supply all equipment needed. Interested?? If so contact myself on 01454 26xxxx for details …

The playing record so far this season has been excellent, with fifteen matches won (no draws) out of twenty two started. In total eighty-five goals have been scored and the under 10's remain unbeaten, whilst the under 11's score goals for fun – twenty-six in five games!!

Finally, the club would like to thank all the parents and sponsors for their continued support throughout the close season and into the new campaign.

Jeremy Lewis, Secretary.

Having missed submitting an article for the last edition of CHADRA, due to annual leave, I'll attempt to update you on matters in which I have been involved in the village.

Generally speaking it's been very quiet on the crime front, especially during the last month, during which virtually no crime was reported.

Prior to that we had a number of thefts from motor vehicles and also suffered a number of domestic burglaries. Most of the burglaries we concentrated over one night and occurred in the Longs View neighbourhood, comprising two burglaries and two attempted burglaries. During the course of one of these burglaries a car was stolen from the driveway and later found abandoned in Keynsham.

Similar burglaries, during which cars have been stolen, have been prevalent in the Bristol area recently and during the last week or so a prime suspect, from the Bristol area, has been arrested in Hampshire for just such an offence. Hopefully this might result in a few clear-ups.

Following on from this it is as well to remember to keep all keys out of sight inside your house. Should you be unfortunate enough to be burgled easily found keys only help the burglar in exiting 19by opening a door from within and then making off in your car.

Although it appears to have declined recently, mindless vandalism to the Memorial Hall has remained a problem: window panes being broken, flagstones damaged and one window frame even having been set on fire. The nearby play area and gazebo have also suffered.

With the help of a local resident, who was willing to make a witness statement, I arrested three youths on suspicion of damage to the Memorial Hall. Ultimately, however, there was insufficient evidence to proceed. If you witness any damage to the said area, or anywhere else for that matter, I would urge you to call us immediately and should there be sufficient evidence action can be taken.

Those of you who take the Evening Post might have noticed that in last Mondays edition (07/10/02) the front page was devoted to two of the more notorious former residents of Charfield, who left about six months ago. Both were mugging and robbing ladies, some of them in their eighties, in Bristol in order to fund their drug addictions. Under the headline ‘Despicable’ the newspaper went on to report how they have now been sentenced to terms of five and three years imprisonment.

Finally, despite very poor attendance in the past I'll be holding another beat surgery in the Memorial Hall at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday 29th October 2002 for those who are interested. I'll be there for one hour.

PC 3799 Jones

I am about to set out for Swanick in Derbyshire for the Diocesan Conference of Clergy and Lay People that takes place once every three years. About 500 delegates will gather together for 4 days to hear talks and participate in discussions on the theme of ‘A Passion for God's World’. In these rather depressing and worrying times it would be hard to pick a more appropriate title. Relations with Iraq, conflicts between Pakistan and India, continued violence between Israel and the Palestinians and renewed tensions in Northern Ireland all cast a shadow over the future of God's wonderful world and challenge the way we look after it and one another. It will be interesting to see if I return from the conference inspired and encouraged or with more negative feelings, I hope the former!

It was into a world in similar turmoil that God sent his Son to be born in poverty in a stable in Bethlehem. Jesus came to show us and teach us how we should live out our lives, alerting us to the many challenges and temptations that face us in the world. At the end of his ministry of teaching and healing he then allowed himself to take the sins of the world upon his shoulders and through the resurrection to win for us a new and everlasting opportunity of a relationship with God. If there had been no Baby at Bethlehem there would have been no Cross at Golgotha and no New Life for us.

This is why we celebrate the wonderful festival of Christmas. The baby in the stable at Bethlehem some 2000 years ago was, and still is, the Saviour of the World. He came just as much for us as the people amongst whom he shared his earthly life and we can certainly do with his touch upon all our lives at the moment.

It goes somewhat against our instincts to rely upon others and accept that we need outside help in our lives. We like to think that we are in control and in charge of our lives and the trend away from community towards individualism re-enforces the idea that we look after No. 1 often at the expense of others and community life.

Many people are very willing to come together to celebrate Christmas, sharing in the party atmosphere of carols, food and 20presents but let us not neglect to remember that we remember the birthday of a very special child. God's gift of love is still relevant today and I believe that we, and the world, can be changed for the better if we take the words and actions of Jesus seriously.

May I wish you a peaceful Advent and a very Happy Christmas

Revd. Robert Pestell, Rector

Regular Services at St. John's
Sundays – 9.30 a.m. Parish Communion with Sunday Club and Family Service
Wednesdays – 9.30 a.m. Holy Communion
2nd Tuesday of the Month – 9.45 a.m. Mini Praise – a short service for pre-school children with their parents and carers.

Special Services
Saturday 2nd November – 7 p.m. All Souls Day Service – a special service to remember those who have died over the past year and other loved ones.

Christmas Services at St. John's
Sunday 8th December – 9.30 a.m. Christingle Family Service
Saturday 14th December – 7 p.m. Carols by Candlelight; St. James, Church End. Walkers meet at the end of Church End Lane (top of Charfield Hill) at 6.45 p.m.
Sunday 22nd December – 3 p.m. Village Carol Service
Monday 23rd December – 10 a.m.–12 noon Children's Christmas Workshop
Tuesday 24th December – 4 p.m. Crib Service for Children and Families 11.30 p.m. Midnight Mass for Christmas
Wednesday 25th December – 9.30 a.m. Christmas Family Communion
Sunday 29th December – 10.30 a.m. United Communion Service at St. Mary's Kingswood

I'd received a Newsletter from St Dunstan's. This Organisation cares for anyone who has served in the UK Armed Forces and has lost their sight or become severely visually impaired, due to age, war, accident or illness. On Tuesday 4th September, I'd decided to run in next year's London Marathon, to fundraise for this charity. By Wednesday 5th September, I'd realised that, perhaps it was not such a good idea.

St Dunstan's had written asking for volunteers for this great race. I was caught up in the excitement. That evening, I was surfing the net. I should say, at this point, that I was planning all this whilst driving through Abergavenny, so feel free to read with a Welsh accent. I logged on to training with Paula, as in Radcliffe, who was giving advice to new Marathonians. I was planning chats with our own John Francksen. I thought, he'd be up for a few pointers. According to Paula, by December I should be able to run a good 15 miles and have an easy conversation with my co-runners. Co-runners? I hadn't included anyone else in my jogging plans. She also advised that women should think carefully about running alone, particularly along isolated country roads. Lawrence, bless him, said he would accompany me. Then we printed out dietary suggestions. At Midnight, after ploughing through about 20 pages of breathing techniques and advice on isotonic drinks, I fell asleep.

I woke up on Wednesday morning, with a ghastly headache and a voice saying, “get a grip, woman.” After all, 26.2 miles is to Bristol and beyond. I put my trainers away. I'm buying their Christmas cards instead.

All through the summer, I'd been hearing on the radio and reading in select newspapers, how wonderful was the Lucien Freud exhibition, at the Tate. On August 7th I climbed the steps from Blackfriars Underground and gasped at the scene before me. A beautiful backdrop of blue sky framed an array of London rooftops and breathtaking architecture. Mum and I entered the transformed building. I was a bit confused, all I could see were signs for Matisse and Picasso. 21We popped into the Ladies and then I went up to a chap in the ‘leave your belongings department’. “Excuse me,” I said, “do you pay for your ticket for the Freud exhibition at the entrance or at the Customer Service stand?” “Yes,” he replied. “I told you he wouldn't know,” said Mum. I went up to the Enquiries Desk and asked the question again. “I'm afraid it's not in this building, Madam, it's at Tate Britain”. We were in Tate Modern. “Don't tell Dad,” I said. “No, we'll tell Dad, but don't tell Elaine.” She's my sister. She didn't think much of Freud, having studied art at Richmond Poly. She'd have had a right old laugh knowing we were at the wrong venue.

We hotfooted it to Pimlico and into the correct building. The artwork was fantastic. There were 159 paintings and etchings that Freud had created within 60 years, 5 of which he had completed this year. What fascinated me, was that in 1943, he moved to Paddington, in London, where he was to remain for thirty years, renting rooms in houses scheduled for slum clearance. I felt privileged to be able to see, in such close proximity, all colours of the spectrum used to create such amazing work. It's only when you get up close to his creation of the human skin, you see he has used blues and greens, which only disappear into the overall work as you move away. I cannot describe sufficiently the rawness of some of his subjects faces and poses. If you are not already familiar with this artist, please discover him for yourself.

My knees have been playing me up a bit and I had them X-rayed to discover arthritis in the joints. Keep tap-dancing was the Doc's advice. He gave me anti-inflammatory tablets. Isn't it just amazing how the body knows which bits to de-inflame.

Now, I'm trying something different tonight. Lawrence is suffering from 3 worms and 5 viruses. Actually, it's his computer that's poorly, not him, so I am at this moment at the kitchen table, bashing out my literary moments on a laptop!!! On that new Richard and Judy programme in the afternoons, they were giving advice to new authors and I'm striking the same pose as Lynda la Plante. Now you know my fondness for getting twitchy about this technology, a gentleman who writes for the New Scientist was describing his sense of fear whilst writing his articles, this week on the radio.

He maintained that there are no grey areas and that when computers go wrong, they become unbelievably hostile and they DO crash. “Wow”, I thought. This was like music to my ears. If a man of his intellect can get into a panic, I'm well excused.

I'm still getting annoyed at the Archers. What planet is that Elizabeth on? and now that Nigel is dressing up with Kenton. Well, those two just aren't manly!!

Finally, doesn't music do wonderful things. I cry at choir singing and some classical pieces, bop around the kitchen to Robbie, but the other day from my radio came George Gershwin's, Rhapsody in Blue. Now that sent tingles down my spine.

Wishing you all a tingly autumn
Best Wishes, Maz.

P.S. HOT NEWS – I've just met Hilary and Geoff. They couldn't get into my floppy disc and so I've just retrieved it from them and then I'm having to put this onto PAPER!!!!!! And then it will be scanned onto their bits and pieces. Aaah! This is getting more exciting by the minute.

We have decided it's time for a change and would like all the budding artists out there to help us out with our new look front page for the newsletter. When you saw the drawing on the front page, how many of you thought “I can do better than that”? And even if you didn't why not give it a go?

We would like to publish a picture on the front of each issue with a fairly loose 22theme of ‘Me and My Village’ and we would like you to provide the artwork for us. There will be a prize for each published artist, which we will try and make appropriate for the age of the winner.

The main restrictions are on size and colour. Your picture should, ideally, be no more than 16cm square (approx. 6″ square). However, we may be able to do some ‘resizing’ once we have it scanned on the computer. Resizing may, though, alter the quality of the picture and so we want to keep the need for this to a minimum. As you know, the newsletter is produced in black and white and, therefore, we will get the best quality pictures if they are supplied in black and white. We may be able to use pictures in colour – we will just have to see what they look like once they are printed in black and white.

The weather seems to be changing (unfortunately) and so a lot more ‘wet play time’ activities may be required. If you're stuck for something to do get out you pencil and paper and get arty. Send your contribution to us (at x Berkeley Close), along with your name, address, age and contact number (just in case!) and we'll do the rest.

Thanks in advance for joining in with our new venture. Be warned – if we don't get any contributions then we may have to publish an awful lot of pictures drawn by our ‘nearly two’ year old!!!

Hilary & Geoff Wignall

Did You Know??

• That 2 young boys wrote to South Gloucestershire Council asking that a form of leisure amenity be provided for the use of 11–19 year olds in the village
• As a result of this request a meeting was arranged, by the youth support worker and community development worker from South Glos, for parents & young people to come up with ideas and projects.
• A couple of parents have been fund-raising to support the skate-park appeal, which was initiated by the parish council.
• We have about £12,500 so far (including money donated by the parish council and a grant from the capital fund)
• We have already held a car boot sale and will be holding other events shortly, e.g a disco to help fund raise for the skate park.
• There are donation jars in Steve's Shop and the Post Office. Thanks very much for your contributions so far.
• Charfield Under 19 Youth Project (CUP) was also formed from the initial meeting. This working group are now in a position to advertise for 2 sessional youth workers to help young people become involved with their local community. Please see the advert on the opposite.
• When the youth workers have been appointed, there will be lots of new and exciting things happening in Charfield for the young people. We will be organising adventure trips and there will be a regular youth club meeting on Tuesday evenings at the Memorial Hall, starting mid November.
• All young people will be encouraged to join the youth workers to ensure that they have a ‘voice’ in the community.
• Please support the youth of Charfield – the village has grown considerably in size, but still lacks any constructive focus for young people from 11–19 years. If you would like your child to be able to have these facilities in the village, then please support our campaign. We meet regularly and you would be most welcome to join us. Meeting dates will be advertised in Steve's Shop.

Margaret Tippins 01454 26xxxx
Wendy Shimman 01454 26xxxx

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Charfield Under 19 Youth Project
(CUP)

wish to appoint

Sessional Youth Workers

Youth work involves engaging young people in social and learning activities with the idea of enhancing their personal skills and encouraging them to participate in their local community. It involves ensuring that they have access to services and the information necessary for making lifestyle choices. The youth project will involve consulting young people on how they would like the services we provide them with to be developed. It is an ideal first post if you are considering a career in youth or community work

Job Requirements

• Experience of working with young people
• A willingness to undertake training if necessary
• A commitment to the development, understanding and implementation of equalities policy and practice

Good rate of pay (£7.66 per hour) & flexible working hours, usually in the evening. There are 2 posts available, both at 3.7 hours per week. CUP strives to be an equal opportunities employer. For an application pack or more information please contact Sarah Roberts on 01454 86xxxx or visit Charfield Post Office

Please send completed application forms to:
Wendy Shimman, xx Manor Lane, Charfield,
Wotton Under Edge, Glos. GL12 8TL

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Minister: Rev. Philip Hope Tel: 01453 84xxxx
A warm welcome awaits you at all of our services.

Sunday School. Sunday 11am.
Family Service 1st Sunday of each month at 11am
Worship – A proportion of our services through this winter period will begin at 3pm and some at 6pm. Please see notice board for details.
Prayer Meeting Thursday 8:30pm.
Bible Study and Prayer Friday 2:30pm.

*Nativity, Service led by our Sunday School – December 15th 3pm
*Carol Service December 22nd 3pm.

“… though He was rich”. I have often tried to look into the wonder of that statement and not got very far. ‘He was rich’ in possessions, the whole universe was His. ‘He was rich’ in honour, I think of the multitude of heavenly host that bowed before Him in praise and adoration. ‘He was rich’ in love, the love of His Father, the Holy Spirit, by the whole host of heaven. What human being could speak of the love, which existed within the Trinity? What amazement there must have been in the courts of heaven when the announcement was made that He was leaving. Can you see Him stripping Himself of His glory, preparing Himself for the journey? See how they followed Him as far as they could, crying ‘Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth. Goodwill to men’.

‘He left the splendour of heaven, knowing His destiny’. As you read the ‘Song of Solomon’ you will note that again and again he describes the beauty of the girl. It is a conferred beauty. Divine beauty, a glorious beauty –it has become her beauty. It seems our Lord is saying, ‘we are looking at the blueprint of your life as a master architect sees the completed building when looking at the drawings. We see the finished product. We see you complete in Christ.

One day He is going to present the bride to Himself in the form He desires her to be, a glorious Church. My friends, will you be there?

We are delighted that the popularity and success of the club has gone from strength to strength in the last six months, with the number of places being taken up steadily increasing.

The children have enjoyed the freedom of outdoor play (in between the showers), and have been playing football, volleyball and hide and seek, as well as skipping and skittles and having great fun whizzing round the playground on scooters!

They thoroughly enjoyed joining in the Jubilee celebrations with lots of craft activities such as making flags and bunting and those who wanted to, enjoyed watching some of the world cup football matches as well!

In order to have enough staff to cover the Summer Play Scheme, the committee recruited additional staff including our two Relief Play Leaders – Georgina Parker and Nicola Denning who worked during the summer holidays. We also had two new Play Assistants join the team – Joanne Loveridge and Sarah Green. In addition to these new members of staff, we are grateful to Cathy Walters, Charfield Pre-School Leader and Joy Davis from Children's Playlink, who also helped over the holiday period.

All our Relief Play Leaders are suitably qualified and all staff are undergoing the appropriate police and security checks in line with Ofsted regulations for Out of School Clubs and Summer Play Schemes.

Summer Play Scheme

We opened throughout the summer break to all children aged 4 to 12 years, opening from 7.30am to 6.00pm each day.

25Many children from the village and beyond had a great time, with professional entertainers and local people visiting the club to entertain the children throughout the holiday. These special sessions included learning how to walk the tight rope, juggle, make things out of odd and ends, hold a snake and paint glass. There were also treasure hunts, sports day activities, bouncy castles and magic shows. I only wish I had so much fun at work!

The Management Committee would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark White who brought in his snakes and bearded dragon, Lynne Edwards who did a Casualty Makeup and First Aid session with the children, (which was amazingly realistic!), Veronica from Wotton Animal Rescue and Rev. Robert Pestell and other members of St Johns, who gave up their time having fun with the kids during the summer break.

A BIG thank you must go to all of the staff. It is due to their help and endless enthusiasm that the scheme was so successful. We even had members of staff walking the tight rope on the Circus Skills day – well done Georgina!

AGM

We held our AGM on 10 July and would like to put on record our special thanks to a number of people.

Only a year ago the Foundation Room was a shabby, little-used building with a leaky roof! Now it is a bright, cheerful room full of artwork and crafts from the creative efforts of children from our village and staff from the Out of School Club and the Pre-School Group.

Our thanks must go first to Rev. Robert Pestell, Bryan Grantham, Janice Vardon-Smith and other members of the Charfield National School Foundation Charity for their hard work and efforts in helping us realise this dream. Without their faith in us we wouldn't have this lovely room, which we hope you will agree is a great asset to the community and our school.

We also extend our grateful thanks to Joy Davis from Children's Playlink for all her help, support and advice from the beginning, way back in September 1999 when the idea of an Out of School Club was first discussed. Her help, particularly at the eleventh hour when we had bureaucratic difficulties with our Ofsted inspection, (without which we could not open) and the release of the New Opportunities Fund Grant of £34,000 to help us pay for the building work and the staff's wages during the first year of operation, was second to none.

We must also mention and thank the staff who have worked so hard to make the club the great fun place it is – the children often don't want to go home!

So thanks to our regular staff – Pat Loveridge and Donna Allen – we couldn't have done it without you! Thank you also to our Play Assistants, Jenny Kowalczyk, Jessie Frith, Robert Farish and Catherine Trew – who have left us now to go to university. We wish them all the best of luck!

As with any project like this, there are many people who have helped in some way. So we gratefully thank the following people for their help and support – Mr. Sreeves, Former Head Teacher at Charfield School, Mrs. Richardson Deputy Head Teacher, Mr. Frontczak, Head Teacher, the Loveridge Family, the Trevelyan Family, Nicki Wade, Tim Sansum, Graham Pedley and members of the Friends of Charfield Primary School 2000–2001, Claire Adams, Mandy Champion and members of the Friends of Charfield Primary School 2001–2002 for their help in joint fundraising efforts, John Francksen and members of Wotton and District Round Table for finishing off the decorating of the Foundation Room when 26the committee members and their partners, family and friends ran out of steam! And finally thanks to Tony Pearson a neighbour of one of the Parents at school who is, without doubt, a star! He has done no end of carpentry jobs from putting new knobs on the cupboard doors to putting coat hooks up in the cloakroom, to designing, building and installing the lovely cupboard in the Foundation Room lobby, without which the Pre-School could almost certainly not moved into the premises. So … Thank you all – no matter how small a part you played – we couldn't have done it without you! (There is bound to be someone I have missed – so thank you too!)

A new committee was elected as follows:
Chair: Matthew Fuller
Treasurer: Anne Mosley
Secretary: Julie Macnamara
Committee Members: Janice Brett & Deborah Field.

The Chairman thanked the committee for all their hard work over the last year and mentioned especially former committee members – Karen Tranter, Georgina Parker and Jean Legood

We are now, unbelievably, fast approaching our first anniversary. In the year ahead we hope to continue some fund raising work in conjunction with the new Pre-School Committee and the new Friends of Charfield Primary Committee, the efforts of which will be used to help maintain and improve this lovely facility within the school grounds, which is there for the use and benefit of our whole community.

This began last Saturday with a resoundingly successful Fun Morning and we hope to continue it with the Foundation Room being used as a “safe haven” for small children who are frightened by the noise of the fireworks at the Friends Bonfire Party on Friday 8 November.

Feel free to call into the Foundation Room anytime to have a look around.

Julie Macnamara, Secretary.

Issue number 9 published in September 1977 marked the second anniversary of the newsletter and the third anniversary of the residents association (CHADRA).

CHADRA was initially formed as a result of a fatal road accident at Little Bristol. In it's first 3 years the residents association had started the newsletter, restarted the youth club, introduced street wardens and completed the village study and local information sheets.

In the newsletter there were reports of vandalism to the toilets by the Memorial Hall, to the seats on the play area, to the bus shelter and trees in the village.

Two very differing views were expressed about the success, or otherwise, of the Silver Jubilee celebrations.

The Charfield Pigeon Club had had a particularly successful season. The Cricket Club had just won division 2 Gloucester Cricket League and the Young Wives had organised a day trip to London at a cost of £3 each!

There was an advert for an exhibition by Avon Local History Association that was held in Thornbury. One of the participating organisations was the Charfield Local History Society. Are they still going?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See you in 2003!

27

Please make use of this diary. Either telephone or drop a note of any additions or modifications to Geoff or Hilary Wignall (01454 26xxxx, x Berkeley Close, or xxxx@Breathemail.net)

KLB = Katharine Lady Berkeley School
FR = Foundation Room, Primary School
SH = Charfield School Hall
SB = Sportsman's Bar, Memorial Hall
MH = Memorial Hall

Why not put this on your fridge door or notice board?

28

If you wish to alter the entries below, please telephone Geoff or Hilary on 01454 26xxxx

Transcriber Notes

This issue was produced on 28 sides of A4 paper.

Personal phone numbers and addresses have been redacted.

Minor typographical corrections and presentational changes have been made without comment.

Digitization by Brendan O'Connor.

Last update: 2017-02-02.