Winterbourne

Medieval Barn

livestream on Zoom.

Before that, on March 5, we have an afternoon of light-hearted entertainment from two favourite local 'big boy bands', the Bristol Male Voice Choir and the Frampton Shantymen. The concert promises a mix of spirituals, folk songs, musicals and sea-shanties in the relaxed setting of the magnificent barn.

At the start of the school holidays there will be a Easter-themed activity day for young children, making seasonal crafts and exploring our Easter trail.

Looking further ahead, the UWE Big Band returns fresh from the finals of the National Concert Band Festival for a jazz night on April 21.

COULD you survive a day in medieval England? That's the question living history re-enactment group the Company of Chivalry will be answering in an entertaining talk about the routines and rigours of life in the Middle Ages. Conditions were tough in the 14th century, but people had the same basic needs and desires as us. They lacked our modern technology, scientific knowledge, materials and foods, but they still wanted to look good and be comfortable, play and be entertained, and stay well.

The talk, by a group normally seen at our annual Medieval Fayre, is on March 21 at the barn, starting at 7pm, but is also available as a

This will be their first public performance of the year in the Bristol area, and will particularly feature music from Count Basie’s epic album The Atomic Basie, along with other well-known charts in the mix.

There will be a nature walk, more talks and craft workshops in April and May.

For more details and bookings visit the website www.winterbournebarn.org.uk or visit in person on March 2 from 1.30-2.30pm.

Louise Harrison

Floral Friends of Frampton

DESPITE the recent cold weather, bulbs are beginning to come up around the village.

Hopefully they will soon be flowering and will brighten every day.

In the meantime one of our volunteers has been out and about (albeit a little further afield) and found some snowdrops to enjoy!

A date for your diary - our Spring Fayre and Plant Sale will take 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 buy some plants for your garden. An event not to be missed!

Floral Friends are entirely funded by donations and we would like to thank all who have supported us recently by making donations and perhaps commemorating someone special by doing so. It is very much appreciated.

Donations can be made either in person or online. Our bank details are: Floral Friends of Frampton, Lloyds 30-98-97, account 70582363.

If you would like to help in any way, from regular or occasional volunteering to donations or sponsorship, we’d love to hear from you: please email us at floralfriendsofframpton@gmail. com.

n WHAT'S ON

March 16 n ARTS APPRECIATION GROUP, meets every third Thursday at Bradley Stoke Community School from 7pm for illustrated talks on all aspects of the arts. This month, talk by Ann Anderson on Gustav Klimt. For details call Sally 01454 774401. April 15 n GENTLE TAI CHI FOR ALL

- WADCA Fundraising Event, 10.30am-12.30pm. £5 per person. Sessions start at 10.45am and 11.30am. Wear loose clothes and flat shoes. Refreshments available throughout the morning. Contact Jenny on 0785 556 0257 or jksmith@blueyonder.co.uk for more information.

Regular Events

n MONDAY: WINTERBOURNE n MONDAY: GENTLE SHIBASHI

FLOWER CLUB now meets at WADCA in Watleys End Road, Winterbourne. Meetings are on the second Monday of the month between 2pm and 4pm. Call 01454 776753 for details.

TAI CHI AND RELAXATION, accessible to all, 6-7pm, St Michael's Rooms, High Street, Winterbourne. Contact Jenny on 07855 560257or jksmith@ blueyonder.co.uk for more information. n MONDAY: FRAMPTON n TUESDAY: WINTERBOURNE DOWN METHODIST n TUESDAY: SUNRIDGE GOLF n TUESDAY - CRAFTING: Come and join our group of crafters on the first Tuesday of every month in the Red Brick Annexe, Manor Hall, Coalpit Heath, BS36 2TG from 2-4pm. Bring your own project. £4 per session: Kay 07792189276. n WEDNESDAY: BRISTOL SCRABBLE CLUB meets every Wednesday evening at 7pm until 10pm at Filton Community Centre, Elm Park, Filton BS34 7PS. New members welcome- first visit free so come along and give us a try. For further information contact Sheila on 01179570792 or 07435316458 or email shinett@ blueyonder.co.uk n WEDNESDAY: GENTLE n WEDNESDAY DOWNEND

SINGALONG meets on the first Monday in the month at Crossbow House, School Road, Frampton Cotterell, 2-3.30pm. Live music from The Jays & The Rosettes. £5, refreshments included. Carers free. All profits to UNICEF supporting children affected by Ukraine war. More details 07515 351 813.

CHURCHDrop in for free cup of tea and chat or play board games, every Tuesday from 2-4pm.

CROQUET CLUB meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in Coalpit Heath and has players at all levels. Learn how to play, club equipment is available to use. Contact croquet@wilko.eclipse.co.uk or call 07977 201440.

SHIBASHI TAI CHI AND RELAXATION, accessible to all, 10.30-11.30am and 11.45am12.45pm, Winterbourne Medieval Barn, Church Lane, Winterbourne. Contact Jenny on 07855 560257or jksmith@blueyonder.co.uk for more information.

FLOWER ARRANGING CLUB meets at 7.30pm on 1st & 3rd Wednesday each month from September to June at Lincombe Barn, Overndale Road. Call Genise on 0777 245 1217 for more information. n THURSDAY: WINTERBOURNE WINDS, a friendly amateur wind band who play a wide range of music including pop, musicals and classical, rehearse at Frenchay Village Hall from 7.40-9.30pm. New members, especially flute, oboe, trumpet, horn and percussion players, are welcome. For more information email winterbournewinds@yahoo.com. n FRIDAY: FROME VALLEY ART GROUP meets at the Greenfield Centre, Winterbourne each Friday 2-4pm or 7-9pm. Thriving club with demonstrations and workshops from visiting professional artists. More details online at winterbourneart.uk or email fromevalleyartwinterbourne@ gmail.com.

Winterbourne Library news

WINTERBOURNE Library's Lego club next meets on March 11, 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 March 18 and 25, from 10am-noon: join a friendly group of crafters to do your own work and chat – refreshments available.

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 looking for a 121 Digital Champion volunteer, with spare time and an interest in helping others learn how to use a computer, laptop, tablet or other device. Contact libraryvolunteers@southglos.gov.uk for more details or collect an application form in the library.

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

Open Access enables you to use the library when staff are not there, including free Wi-Fi, PCs and printing, issuing and returning books, seven days a week between 8am and 7.30pm. Library members need to complete a one-off induction session first to register.

More information is available online at www.southglos.gov.uk/ openaccess or from library staff.

Greenway Gardens

Address: 90 Chedworth, Yate

Coalpit Heath WI

IN February we were pleased to welcome back Susan Symons.

Susan had previously spoken to us in 2021 about the early life of Queen Victoria.

Her talk on Victoria and Albert this time continued that fascinating history.

Susan is incredibly knowledgeable about her subject and used snippets from Queen Victoria’s journals and diaries, as well as sharing paintings and illustrations. We very much enjoyed this talk.

The January book club meeting was a discussion of The Tent, the Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy, a memoir of family camping holidays in the 1970s.

It was obvious fairly quickly that people had strong reactions to this book, some struggling to finish it, while others enjoyed the short chapters and found the calamities that the family attracted amusing.

We did all agree that it brought back memories of our own family holidays and there were several funny stories shared. We eventually settled on The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman as our book for March.

Our first skittles match was against the lovely ladies of Doynton and Wick WI. It was a very enjoyable evening, a first match for one of our team. We are delighted to be progressing to the next round of this knockout competition, as we had a lot of members keen to play.

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.

On March 1 Ann Fisher will give an iced flower demonstration and on April 5 Briony May Williams will talk about life after Bake Off.

For more information search @ WICoalpitHeath on Facebook or @ coalpitheathwi on Instagram.

Caroline Johnston

Frampton Cotterell WI

THIS year has got off to a great and varied start, with fabulous talks by member Liz Curtis on life at Bristol Zoo and Strictly dance moves in Zumba with Karen Davis.

In February we had our annual meal outthis year at the White Horse at Hambrook, where we enjoyed an evening of good company, tasty food and a lovely cosy atmosphere. We all agreed that it was a great night out.

Our March talk, on the 28th, is by local historian John Winston-Smith, on Norman

Hunting Lodges.

Other confirmed events for the coming months include Tai Chi with Jenny Smith on April 25 and a rapeseed oil talk and cookery demo on June 27.

We have many other events lined up for the coming year, including visits to the theatre and local gardens. Watch this space and our Facebook page for more details.

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

There is a charge of £3.50 for the evening and any new members can also join by paying a membership fee.

Special interest groups include a book club, craft group, gardening group and our skittles and darts teams.

n COMMUNITY NEWS

Winterbourne Down WI

FOUR guests joined us for our February meeting, three of whom had heard other talks by our speaker Paul Barnett and had found him informative and interesting with a good sense of humour. Paul is a maritime historian and his talk, titled ‘Port to Port’, included 20th century black and white photographs of the 16-mile canal running from Sharpness to Gloucester.

He had then taken current colour pictures of the same area and by comparing these, pointed out how the waterways and surrounding docklands have changed. Warehouses have been demolished and in their place new flats and houses have been erected, giving a completely different look and feel to the canal. We look forward to future talks by Paul.

Our coffee morning at the Vintage Birdcage in Yate was very successful, with a number of members enjoying good coffee and delicious home-made cakes. We are looking forward to another visit in the summer when we will be able to enjoy the pretty outside patio area.

Only a few of our members met up at Hambrook Social Club on a cold February evening in order to have a fun skittles match. We will arrange another evening when the weather improves.

We are through to the next round of the WI skittles tournament, where we will be playing Rodway Rubies.

Our programme for the year is now complete and we are looking forward to a wide variety of speakers plus our usual monthly coffee mornings.

We meet on the first Thursday of the month at All Saints church hall at 7.30pm, and everyone is welcome.

In our meeting on March 2, Tash will give us an introduction to armchair yoga.

Victoria Goodman

Winterbourne Evening WI

AT our February meeting we had the pleasure of having Jenny Smith speak to us about Shibashi Tai Chi.

Shibashi ("18" in Mandarin, and pronounced "sher baa sher") is a series of 18 energyenhancing exercises, emphasising movement with breathing and concentration.

It is a gentle, beautiful and flowing Tai Chi routine that is deeply relaxing for people of any age. Shibashi was created in 1979 by Professor Lin Hou Sheng, who today is revered as one of China's 'Living Treasures'.

Across China, people of all ages practice Tai Chi daily for good health. This type of Tai Chi is known to be good for reducing blood pressure, improving circulation, boosting stamina and relieving pain and stiffness.

After an interesting introduction about the martial art and Jenny's journey to becoming an instructor, who teaches locally, we got a taste of the 18 moves in this gentle style of flowing movement. Some of our members completed the exercises seated, others used chairs for support and the remaining members did the class standing, so it was great for people of all levels of fitness.

Our next meeting will be on March 9 at 7.30pm at St Michael's School in Linden Close. Visitors and new members are most welcome.

Emilie Smith