Winterbourne Library news

WINTERBOURNE Library is looking for people to help create bunting to be displayed for the Coronation.

It can be red, white or blue, with crowns or castles, and should be 14.5cm wide at the top, with a 21cm drop to the middle point: each side will then be 22cm long.

Anyone who would like to help can pick up a template in the library during staffed hours and decorate it or use it to cut out fabric or guide knitting.

All finished flags should be brought to the library by April 30.

The library holds an Easter holiday craft activity, Dinosaur Stomp, on April 14 from 10.30-11.30am.

The library will be closed from Good Friday to Easter Monday, April 7-10.

Lego club next meets on April 15, from 10am to 11am – for children aged four and up.

Storytime sessions, on Fridays from 9.30-10am in term time only, are suitable for children aged 18 months to four years.

Regular Rhymetimes take place on Wednesdays, 9.30am-10am. Suitable for babies aged up to 18 months.

An adult craft group meets on April 22 and 29, from 10am-noon: join a friendly group of crafters to do your own work and chat – refreshments available.

A new Digital Champion can help people get online, use a PC or phone. The volunteer is available on Fridays from 10am-noon: booking is essential. Computer classes are held on Thursdays (term time only). Enrolment required with SGS College - for more information call Cindy on 0117 909 2296 or email cindy.corbett@sgscol.ac.uk.

For more details of events or bookings, visit the library, email Winterbourne.library@southglos.gov.uk or phone 01454 868006.

The library is open and staffed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10am-5pm, and on Saturday from 9.30am-12.30pm.

Winterbourne and Frome Valley Environmental Group

SPRINGTIME sees us in the mood to tidy and restore, to bring a sense of freshness to our houses.

If the longer days and brighter light has got you in the mood to repair and refresh your home, then come along to our Share and Repair Café.

The community cafes are held on the third Saturday of the month at All Saints Church Hall in Winterbourne Down, from 10.30am until noon.

We have a team of volunteer repairers who share their skills to breathe new life into our goods.

A different team is there each month - check our Facebook page more information each month.

On our team is jewellery repairer Kim, who runs Cross My Palm Designs; sewing gurus Nic,

Floral Friends of Frampton

YOU may have noticed that the weeping cherry tree in the Sensory Garden has been removed – it had got too big for the space, and had also been vandalised.

We have now replaced it with a crab apple tree –hopefully this will soon be flowering and will be followed in the autumn with a plentiful supply of crab apples!

The planters are also due to be replaced shortly, since the existing ones are deteriorating and will be replaced with planters made from recycled plastic. These will be planted up with a mix of perennial and annual plants.

A date for your diary - our Spring Fayre and Plant Sale takes place on Saturday May 27 from 10am to noon.

Come along and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee with a cake, browse the stalls and, maybe, buy some plants for your garden. An event not to be missed!

If you can help us in any way, we’d love to hear from you. Please email us at floralfriendsofframpton@gmail. com.

Janet and Jane; electrical wizards Steve, Steve, Steve, Stefano, and Nigel (yes there are four Steves!); wood restorer Paul; bike tuner Duncan; and clocksmith Mike. More volunteers are always welcome.

As well as saving goods from landfill, the team is also keen to share repair skills with the community. The Repair Café movement was set up to encourage us all to learn how to keep our belongings at their best, so we can treasure our possessions instead of buying new.

Over the next few months we will be running special Repair Cafes with a focus on different skills – join us to learn more.

The next cafés are on April 22, May 20 and June 17.

We also run a litter pick alongside the café - pop in and get your litter picker, and be rewarded with tea and cake afterwards!

Laura Fogg-Rogers

Beesmoor Road Playing Field

THE unwanted muddy water feature at Beesmoor Road Playing Field has gone!

Through the winter months children using the wooden play equipment had to deal with a muddy puddle that appeared by the hollow log after heavy rain.

Playground contractors Touchwood, who built the play area in 2019, have carried out drainage work which means the area should no longer flood, and eventually grass should grow through the protective matting.

The play area, which includes two slides, swings, balance logs and climbing towers, is open to all children in the village.

The Playing Field Committee, who are all unpaid volunteers, hope the drainage work will allow children to enjoy the play equipment even more.

The Park is funded by grants from Frampton Cotterell Parish Council, and support from local businesses, and makes a small income from hiring out the football pitches to teams including the Ridings FC, Ridings Veterans and Frampton Athletic FC.

Beesmoor Road Playing field is always looking for people to join the committee, and you could get involved as part of King Charles's Big Helpout Coronation appeal, or just email field@beesmoor.uk.

You can find out more about us at the website www.beesmoor.uk and on Facebook.

Frampton Cotterell WI – April News

OUR late February meeting was enjoyed by all - local dance expert and Zumba instructor Karen Davis made a welcome return visit to our group.

Karen started off with a fun 'Strictly' quiz, before managing to get most of us on our feet to practice some key Strictly moves, including rumba, tango and samba.

Our March talk was a history talk on Norman Hunting Lodges by local historian John Wilson Smith.

Other confirmed events for the coming months include Tai Chi with Jenny Smith on April 25 and our annual WI resolutions meeting on May 23.

We have many other events and socials lined up for the coming year, including visits to the theatre, including Fisherman’s Friends in May, local gardens and other local group trips throughout the coming year.

We also have a monthly lunch club, open to all members and held at a different local venue each time.

Watch this space and our Facebook page for confirmation of future event dates, more details and to contact us if you're interested in joining.

Visitors and new members are welcome to our monthly meetings at St Peter’s Hall on School Road, which are normally the fourth Tuesday of every month, at 7.45pm.

There is a charge of £4 for the evening and any new members can also join by paying a membership fee.

Special interest groups that meet separately including a book club, craft group, gardening group and our skittles and darts teams.

Coeliac UK local café meet-up

DO you have coeliac disease? Do you need to live gluten Free? Do you know someone who does?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then why not pop along to a new Coeliac UK local café meet-up?

These events are run by Coeliac

UK volunteers and offer relaxed and informal support for anyone affected by the disease or needing to live gluten free.

We will be meeting on the third Thursday of each month, starting on April 20, from 10-11.30am at Iron Acton Garden Centre café in Wotton Road.

Just pop in for a chat any time during the event.

The Coeliac UK volunteers will be wearing an orange t-shirt.

The local café meet-up is free to attend, with car parking available.

Why not buy a drink and Gluten Free snack or Gluten Free cake while you're there?

Everyone is welcome, including family, friends and carers (under 18s should be accompanied by a parent or guardian).

You don’t need to be a member of Coeliac UK or live locally to attend.

For further information on the above café meet-up email volunteering@coeliac.org.uk.

Coeliac UK is a charity for people who need to live without gluten – the website can be found at www.coeliac.org.uk.

Julie McLaren

Winterbourne

Medieval Barn

THERE'S lots going on for all ages down at the barn this spring.

There are just a few tickets left for Family Easter Crafts and Egg Hunt on April 3, and for the UWE Big Band on April 21.

Spring is a great time to hear birdsong - but can you recognise birds from their songs?

There will be a lovely spring morning walk on April 23 with naturalist Ed Drewitt, who will help us identify the different birds in the hedges, fields and nature reserve, and learn their sounds.

The walk starts at 8am and will end back at the barn around 9.30am, for breakfast and a chat.

Our region's architectural follies are the subject of an illustrated talk by expert Jonathan Holt on April 27. These buildings served no useful purpose but were built out of passion, eccentricity, or just to show off! A true folly enthusiast, Jonathan has built a shell house in his garden in Bath.

There may be some tickets available on the door for this talk.

Monthly talks in the Barn all start at 7pm and are also available live-streamed on zoom (book online). The bar opens at 6.30pm.

Barn events provide a range of accessible activities for the community, and help to raise essential money for the Trust for conservation and improvement of the heritage site.

All events can be booked online at www.winterbournebarn.org.uk, via Facebook or on Ticketsource.

For those without internet access, a box office is open 1.302.30pm on the first Thursday of each month for in-person ticket sales.

Louise Harrison

Crossbow Singers

WE have embraced 2023 with vigour and have been enthusiastically learning a whole range of new pieces that Carolyn, our musical director, and the committee have chosen.

We are so pleased to have welcomed several new members to the choir but also sad that there are some very long-standing members who have not been able to return yet; we miss them terribly.

It seems a long time ago now but thank you to everyone who supported our Christmas Concert, it was a real success with lots of audience participation. As usual we had a retiring collection, which was used to donate to the Zion Food Hub. Thank you to all the very generous donations, we were able to give £500 to this very worthy local cause.

The next few months are looking very busy, starting with our AGM, which is always a good opportunity to get together. We are also very pleased to resume social events, something that has been on hold for the past two years. A skittles evening is being planned.

Finally, we are very pleased to announce that we will be singing at a couple of local events.

We have been asked to do a concert at the Winterbourne Down Carnival on Sunday April 30 from 6-7pm at All Saints Church, and again at All Saints on June 19 in the evening. We are very much looking forward to being part of both concerts, and performing a variety of old favourites and new tracks.

Louise Lewis

Coalpit Heath WI

ANN Fisher’s beautiful sugar-crafted floral arrangements were the centrepiece of our March meeting.

Ann explained that even quite complicated finished pieces start off the same way, demonstrated how pieces were cut and shaped from fondant icing using a variety of tools, then shared the different methods of colouring that could be used to create realistic flowers.

While she was talking she assembled the pieces of an orchid so we could see how a flower was made.

Members again supported NICU units locally by making over 40 hearts to be given out on Mother’s Day: we know they are much appreciated.

Our additional groups include a theatre group who have recently been to see My Fair Lady and the book group, who are meeting every other month.

There are also plans for an afternoon tea and a trip to the wildflower meadow at Highgrove.

We had another great evening of skittles, against Iron Acton. It was very closely contested, and we only lost by four. We are now looking into the possibility of having a game amongst ourselves.

If you fancy coming along and seeing what we have to offer you would be most welcome. We meet on the first Wednesday of each month in St Saviour’s church hall, at 7.45pm.

Our next meeting is indoor curling, on April 5.

For more information find us on Facebook or Instagram.

Caroline Johnston

Winterbourne Down WI

A NUMBER of our members recently met up for coffee and a chat at the very busy Mokka café in Downend.

We have all really enjoyed these monthly informal get-togethers and have been surprised by how many small cafes there are dotted around our area, serving good coffee and cakes. We are pleased to support them.

Our skittles team beat Rodway Rubies WI, so we are now through to the next round against Falfield WI.

Three of our members enjoyed a Boccia class, which has similar rules to boules and pétanque, but you have to remain seated.

This month we are all looking forward to a three-course meal hosted by our president Margaret. Our WI maintains the garden adjacent to All Saints’ Church Hall, where we hold our monthly meetings, and this is the time of year when we ask members to volunteer to carry out a spring tidy-up.

We hope that the very cold winter weather has not caused too much damage to our precious plants.

Our speaker this month gave us a demonstration of armchair yoga, explaining that in order to relax we must control our breathing and that the main philosophy of yoga is health, a balanced life-style, mind and body.

The Winterbourne Down May Day Carnival is fast approaching and our WI stall will include home-bakes, jams and preserves, together with a tombola.

This is a good day out for all the family and your support will help many charities.

We meet at All Saints’ Church Hall on the first Thursday of the month at 7.30pm.

Our April meeting will feature a cake decorating demonstration by one of our own members.

Victoria Goodman