Tower & TapTower & TapTower & TapTower & Tap
February 2010February 2010February 2010February 2010
In this Issue:
Church News ............................... 4 - 5 100 Club winners ..........................8
Church Services Schedule................. 5 Friendly Club................................. 9
Church Office ................................... 6 Police Surgery ............................. 11
Parish Council ................................. 7 Youth Club................................... 14
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MonMonMonMon TueTueTueTue WedWedWedWed ThuThuThuThu FriFriFriFri SatSatSatSat SunSunSunSun
1 2 South Marston All Sorts SM School 1.30-2.45
3 Tots ‘n’ Toddlers 9-11am Village Hall
4 Craft Company 7.30 pm Mary Cooper’s house.
5 Mixed Plastics
Wheelie Bins
Green Waste
6 7
8 Youth Club 10-13 Yrs Village Hall
9 South Marston All Sorts SM School 1.30-2.45 Friendly Club 2 pm Village Hall
10 Tots ‘n’ Toddlers 9-11am Village Hall Craft Company 2 pm Mary Cooper’s house
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12 Youth Club 6-9 Yrs Village Hall
13 The Meeting Point 9.30-12 Village Hall Saturday Scene Village Hall 4.00 pm
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15 16 Parish Council 7.30 pm Village Hall
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18 19 Mixed Plastics
Wheelie Bins
Green Waste
20 21
22 Youth Club 10-13 Yrs Village Hall
23 South Marston All Sorts SM School 1.30-2.45 Police Surgery Meadow Room SM Hotel 7 pm
24 Tots ‘n’ Toddlers 9-11am Village Hall
25 SMRA 8 pm Village Hall
26 Youth Club 6-9 Yrs Village Hall
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February 2010
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Dear Friends This is my last letter as Team Rector for, as you probably know, I am retiring on 14th February. Over the last four years or so it has been a privilege to be with you and contribute to the life of our Team Ministry. Each of our churches—St Margaret's, Stratton, St Mary Magdalene, South Marston, St Leonard, Stanton Fitzwarren and our congregation which meets at Coleview Community Centre each Sunday, have their own identities in the communities where they are. One size doesn't fit all and it has been good to have been part of different approaches and alternative ways of local church life. However, what we seek to do is never finished, or even tidy – the ministry of God is never ending. That applies too to our own journey of faith whether we are just tentatively beginning or have been on that journey for many years. But what differentiates both our church life and our individual faith is that we give testimony to the language of hope. This is different from false optimism or despair. We do not have any way of predicting the outcome of our life’s journeys, or know sure what lies ahead. But what we can know as Christians is that by our faith we can put our lives and our future, with confidence, into God’s hands. Our Christian faith in God and his promises necessarily retains the character of a venture, of a risk undertaken in obedience to a command: not a leap into the dark, but a pilgrimage of faith. It is my prayer as I leave that you will all know that hope of God in your lives, not just for today but for all your tomorrows too. God bless you and thank you for your support and encouragement in so many ways to both Beryl and myself. Rev Victor Howlett Team Rector
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Church News The Christmas Gift
At Christmas we gave everyone in the village an opportunity to
give a gift to the church for Christmas. I would like to thank you
for your generosity the appeal raised £665 some of which was
‘gift aided’ and will eventually yield more from the taxman.
Vicky Fleming
The next High Five High Five High Five High Five service for children up to 5 years will be on 5th February at 10am
‘Craft Company’
It is so good to get together with others of like mind and share
ideas, inspire and encourage each other and enjoy a natter
while doing our crafts. Please come and join us on Thursday
4th February 7.30—9.30pm and Wednesday 10th
February 2–4pm at Mary Coopers house. More details from Mary
Cooper or Vicky Fleming.
Team Lent Studies 2010 Recovering the heart of our faith is the theme for our Lent studies this
year. Please consider setting aside time to explore again the wonderful
message of Jesus: the gospel of grace, hope and salvation using the story
of the prodigal son.
An introduction: Ash Wednesday Service on 17th
February at 7.30pm South Marston Church — all the study
evenings will be held at St. Margaret’s Centre starting at
7.30pm
22nd February The younger son; 1st March The elder son;
8th March Both wrong; both loved; 15th March The true elder
Office Hour It can be so frustrating trying to get hold of vicars!
So….if you need to get in touch with Rev. Vicky
Fleming, telephone 01793 827021 or call at the
Vicarage, South Marston, between 6 and 7pm every
evening except Thursdays and Sundays.
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Saturday Scene Saturday Scene Saturday Scene Saturday Scene meets on the 13th in the Village meets on the 13th in the Village meets on the 13th in the Village meets on the 13th in the Village Hall 4Hall 4Hall 4Hall 4----5.15pm. 5.15pm. 5.15pm. 5.15pm. An exciting church event for young families. Stories, songs, crafts, games and food.
Contact Donald Page on 825693
The Meeting Point Coffee morning with table top sales
(Please book your table by 10th Feb: £5 for people who live in the village, £10 for those outside and free to village organisations )
13th February from 9.30 –12 noon In the Village Hall
Refreshments provided by South Marston Church Those who come often remark about the enjoyment of sitting down with a neighbour they haven’t seen for a while with a cake in one
hand and a coffee in the other.
We look forward to seeing you
Church Services (all at South Marston Church unless otherwise stated)
7th February 11.00 am Family Service
14th February 8.00 am Holy Communion
11.00 am Holy Communion Team Service
(St Margaret’s Church)
21st February 9.30 am Morning Worship
28th February 8.00 am Holy Communion
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The Parish Church of South Marston is part of the Stratton St. Margaret
Team. The Church office is located at St. Margaret’s Church Centre,
Kenwin Close, Stratton St. Margaret.
Office hours are: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings from
8.30 am – 12 pm, email [email protected] or tel 826505.
All enquiries for christenings and weddings should be made to the
Rev’d Vicky Fleming on 827021. Team Staff Members are:
Team Rector - to be appointed
Team Vicar - The Rev'd Vicky Fleming - 827021
Hon Curate - The Rev'd Phil Ashby - 759008
Lay Minister - Dan Read - 763016
Lay Minister - Christine Burston 822403
Lay Minister - Rob Stewart - 766713
Church Office
Wanted: Volunteers for our Wildlife Site The Parish Council want to set up a community group
to plan and undertake the work to create a wildlife area
on the land recently leased from SBC on the Highworth
Road, just after the footpath into Greenfields and
adjacent to 31 Highworth Road.
The group will be initially guided and
supervised by an officer from Wiltshire
Wildlife Trust. The initial task will be to clear the site,
coppice hazels and prune and lay the hedge adjacent to
the road. The planned start on Saturday 30th January
should have already made some improvement to the site.
Working in this group would be an ideal Community/Voluntary service
project for anyone participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
scheme.
If you are interested in joining in on this new project contact:
Neil Burchell 827009 or Brian McGlone 826243
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South Marston Parish Council News
Parish Council Vacancy
Ms Margaret Presse has recently resigned from the Parish Council for work and family reasons. Margaret has been a co-opted Councillor since June 2007 and her contributions to the work of the Parish Council has
been much appreciated. The resulting vacancy is currently being
advertised; so if you feel that you would be interested in joining the Parish Council, please contact either the Chairman , Colin McEwen
(825312) or the Clerk, Roger Powell (827515).
Village Expansion
A Workbook that covers a character review of the village and the constraints and opportunities for expansion, has been put on the village
website. This has been produced by NEW Masterplanning, the consultant
being used by the Parish Council to provide expertise in the production of a Supplementary Planning Document for the village.
The Workbook is well set out, easy to follow and contains many photos
of village features. The purpose of the workbook is to highlight the best characteristics of the village and to create a basis for generating ideas,
options for change and improving facilities for an expanded village under the EDA. Residents are urged to have a look at it and send in their
comments and ideas using the Blog.
Members of the Village Development Working Party will be running workshops with village interest groups and using the workbook to
stimulate discussion and generate views and ideas.
Wind Turbines
Following the successful wind measurement tests over the
last year or so, Honda has decided to submit a planning application for up to 3 wind turbines on its site. These will
provide the necessary electricity to cover the basic power load of the building services.
The contractor that Honda is using is Ecotricity and they
will be contacting certain householders in the village very soon to arrange for sound measurement tests to be carried
out. The results will form part of the supporting
documentation for the planning application.
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CHRISTMAS BAZAAR The South Marston Fete Committee would like to thank everyone
who came along to support the local community at the Christmas
Bazaar. It was so nice to see so many people coming out on such a
bitterly cold day to see Father Christmas and his jolly Reindeer.
Over fifty children
came to see and
speak with Father
Christmas in his
fireplace.
We would also like
to thank Father
Christmas and his
Re i ndeer fo r
taking the time to
visit us especially
at this busy time of year. Thanks also to Dale Wildern for gener-
ously donating the beautiful Christmas tree for outside the Village
Hall and thank you to Adam Rudnick, Rupert Burt and the Case
Brothers for erecting and decorating it so nicely.
100 CLUB WINNERS 100 CLUB WINNERS 100 CLUB WINNERS 100 CLUB WINNERS
November 2009November 2009November 2009November 2009 December 2009December 2009December 2009December 2009 £100 winner: 78 Bernice Proctor
£10 each: £10 each: 91 Mr M Taylor 45 M Law
09 Mrs M Taylor 12 R Bennet
113 Carol Bickell 90 Rachel Messenger 114 Rae Marie Bowdidge 39 Val Goodheart
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Recent Events Tuesday 8th December – Christmas Lunch, Carriers
Arms. Didier and his staff served us a tasty carvery lunch, thanks to all. After lunch we were entertained by
UKEBOXJURY in the Village Hall, which rounded off the day nicely.
Tuesday 15th December – School Concert. The children
of South Marston School entertained us. We had a good representation of FC members and all agreed how well the
children performed. We thank Alison and staff and especially the children for all their hard work in producing the concert.
Christmas Bazaar - the winning tickets for the lucky number board were
25, 2, 26, 56, 45, 76 and 46 the name of the doll bride was Cinderella.
Tuesday 12th January. Due to the snow we were down on numbers, however we commenced with a presentation by Ashley Heath, BBC
journalist, on the Harold Jolliffe One Act Play Festival being held on
Thursday 11th Feb to Saturday 13th Feb at the Swindon Arts Centre. For information see www.swindonweb.com/hj10. This was followed by our
main activity, a talk by Sheila Parsons on “Spotting and Spinning” including tales of working behind the microphone in BBC studios
interviewing people and presenting programmes, plus a brief history of
the starting up of local radio stations.
Future Events Tuesday 9th February – Village Hall at 2.00 pm. A talk will be
given by Lorraine Stanton of Vowley Farm on the subject of “From Boardroom to Barn”. The farm is run on organic methods.
Lorraine may bring some samples of products for us to try.
Tuesday 9th March – Village Hall at 2.00 pm - Ian Purvis will talk to us about conchology, the collecting of Sea Shells.
General Members have received the 2010 programme and trip list. Will members
please return their trip list marked with their selected choices ASAP. The programme and other information on club activities are available on the
village web site, click on Friendly Club on the menu list.
Friendly Club
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Meet at
Saplings Children’s Centre
Tuesdays
9.30am-10.30am
Visit local parks, explore Stratton on
foot, make new friends and walk your
way to good health.
Toddlers should be in buggies.
Pregnant mums welcome!
If rain stops play then enjoy story
and rhyme time.
For more information
call 829996
Saplings Children’s Centre, Delamere Drive, Stratton St Margaret
Looking for a Venue?
For a one-off (parties, meetings,
get-togethers) or a regular slot, from Aerobics to Zen yoga,
South Marston Village Hall
is available at very competitive rates.
Please contact
Julie Hatherall
on 07857 310624 for further information.
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Tower & Tap Submissions
Please email items for Tower & Tap to [email protected] or
drop any article in to The Maples, South Marston (next to the
Vicarage). The deadline for March 2010 issue is 15 February 2010.
POLICE SURGERIES
The local Police are holding a surgery on
Tuesday 23rd February at 7 pm.
in the Meadow Room of the South Marston Hotel
If there is anything you would like to discuss with them then please
drop in. If you have any problems in your area or there is a forthcoming
priority you would like to talk about then please come along.
The police surgeries are run by our local Neighbourhood Policing Team
(NPT). South Marston comes under Swindon Rural North where PC Craig
Rathbone is the Community Beat Manager and Robert Dentry is the Police
Community Support Officer.
The Wiltshire Police website www.wiltshire.police.uk contains more
information on the NPT and explains how you can contact them; the
website is full of interesting and useful information including where the
helicopter has been and also the level of local crime - it is well worth a
look.
FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS, AND TO
HAVE YOUR SAY, ABOUT THE
OPPOSITION TO THE
EDA DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL
GO TO
www.eastswindonsaysno2eda.co.uk
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Valentines Day
Saturday 13th February 2010 & Sunday 14th February 2010
Enjoy a romantic 4 course meal & a gift for the lady
£27.50 per person
Mother’s Day Lunch
Mothering Sunday
Sunday 21st March 2010
3 course luncheon menu
including a gift for mum
£18.95 per Adult
£7.95 per Child under 14
Under 3’s FREE
For more information on these events or to make a reservation
please contact a member of the team on (01793) 833700
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TOTS ‘n’ TODDLERS
We are a Parent & Toddler group that meets up for
a play session, craft table, coffee and chat.
WEDNESDAY MORNINGS (term time only)
9.00am – 11.OOam
0 – 4 years
South Marston Village Hall
For further details feel free to call in
and see us at the group or contact us:
Rachel Case on 01793 703550 or Mary Case on 01793 826038
or email: [email protected]
at South Marston Primary School
Children 0 to under 5yrs
Expectant mums welcome
Tuesdays 1.30 pm – 2.45 pm (Term Time Only)
50p charge per family
Telephone Saplings Children’s Centre on 829996
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South Marston Youth Club
DAY DATE AGES VENUE
Monday 08 February 10-13 years Village Hall
Friday 12 February 6 – 9 years Village Hall
Monday 22 February 10-13 years Village Hall
Friday 26 February 6 – 9 years Village Hall
For more details please contact Julie or Steve Hatherall
e-mail: [email protected] tel: 07923 441 296
February dates are shown below:
Check the new South Marston Calendar
at http://southmarston.org.uk to confirm the start/end times.
A S W Garden Company
Complete Gardening Care
• Lawn Mowing • Planting & Soft Landscaping
• Regular Maintenance • Hedge Cutting
• Pruning • Autumn/Winter tidy ups
Call - 01793 822122 or 07801 490489
or email [email protected]
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Useful Contacts South Marston www.southmarston.co.uk
Parish Council Chair Colin McEwen T 825312
Parish Council Vice Chair Sheila Anderson-Witty T 825058
Clerk to the Parish Council Roger Powell T 827515
Parish Council Project Co-ord’r TBA
SMRA Chair Mary Case (temp) T 826038
SMRA Secretary Julie Hatherall T 826028
Village Hall Bookings Julie Hatherall T 07857 310 624
Football Field Bookings Chris Maull T 824505
Tots and Toddlers Rachel Case T 703550
Youth Club Julie & Steve T 07923 441296
Gardening Club Mike New T 827807
Friendly Club Brian McGlone T 826243
History Society Darren Cook T 832999
Afternoon Home Group Shirley Wildern T 826160
Marston Minstrels Maureen Withers T 825660
SM Football Club Nigel Franklin T 766590
Spitfires Football Club Bev Maull T 824505
South Marston School Alison Lowe T 823379
Pre–School Pre-School Staff T 07847 590601
Swindon Borough Councillor Doreen Dart T 762033
Member of Parliament Anne Snelgrove T 615444
Team Rector to be appointed
Team Vicar Vicky Fleming T 827021
Church Wardens Richard Sansum T 831473
Donald Page T 825693
Useful Contacts Stanton Fitzwarren Some useful contact numbers for Stanton Fitzwarren are shown below,
which our readers may find useful:
Clerk to the Parish Council Zena May T 702869
WI President Margaret Parker T 762065
Village Hall Bookings Alison Charnock T 762093
St Leonards Church Wardens Liz Hillman T 762935
Sue Mackenzie T 765538