Produced by the students and staff of St Mark’s Church of England School
The
LARKHALL News Issue 20, November 2012 Covershot by Miranda Kombert
&
St Mark’s The Valley Schools Report My St Mark’s
By year 8 student, Rowan and friends (pictured)
Larkhall’s Americana Links
Bryan Chalker on Larkhall’s home-grown talent
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From the Editor This edition is somewhat of a landmark for St Mark’s School as we celebrate our 20th Issue, serving the community, schools and businesses of Larkhall and the surrounding area. We are thrilled to have made it to such an important milestone, particularly in such turbulent economic times. For St Mark’s School, The Larkhall News is a vital part of our involvement and interaction with our local community; an ethos that is at the heart of everything we do. Thank you to all of our supporters and advertisers, who continue to show their commitment to our magazine and our School. Our village comes alive with festive merriment and I am particularly happy to report that this year will be no different. The seasonal spirit is truly alive and well here in Larkhall with a host of splendid winter-themed crafts, workshops and activities for all. We hope that you will join us at St Mark’s on Saturday 1 December for our Christmas Craft Fayre, or on Friday 14 December for our eagerly anticipated Community Christmas Party and help us to celebrate Christmas 2012 with our local community! With best wishes
Paula Paula Hawkins - Editor Telephone: 01225 312661 Email: hawkinsp@st-marks.bathnes.sch.uk Published by St Mark’s School Editor: Paula Hawkins, St Mark’s School, Baytree Road, Larkhall, Bath, BA1 6ND Tel: 01225 312661 Email: hawkinsp@st-marks.bathnes.sch.uk Website: The Larkhall News is available online at: www.st-marks.bathnes.sch.uk/BusinessEnterprise/LarkhallNews
In This Edition: St Mark’s and The Valley Schools
Join staff and students for festive fun at St Mark’s this Christmas!
Valley Added
Seed to Shop enterprise joins pupils and businesses in the launch of Valley Added
Larkhall Festival 2013
As one Festival ends, another is in the planning! Find out how you can join in.
Larkhall’s Americana Links
Bryan Chalker on Larkhall’s home-grown acoustic based artistes
My St Mark’s
Student, Rowan, on life and friendships at St Mark’s
Win tickets to the egg this Christmas
A family ticket’s on offer for one lucky winner! Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in articles are strictly those of the authors. The publisher does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracies or errors in content. Whilst every reasonable care is taken with all material submitted, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage. For advertising enquiries contact us on 01225 478416
Enquiries welcome
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StMark’s S c h o o l
A view from St Mark’s, by Head of School, Chris Ryan The students are shuffling their way through the piles of autumn leaves, the mist hangs in the valley, teachers and students breathe a sigh of relief, or should that be ‘release’: it is the end of term. Much has happened at St Mark’s this term; so let me relay some of the highlights. The Goldie’s Garden was finished and planted and is due to be opened next spring. Our thanks go to all involved in this very special community project. We are proud to be involved in the launch of the Goldie’s Garden and look forward to welcoming local residents at its formal opening next year. Our first Valley Added Saturday Workshop took place and was a huge success; see pages 8 and 9 for a full report. We have hosted the Valley Schools’ football tournaments and have had upwards of 200 Primary School pupils playing (not all at one time!), on our Astroturf pitch. It is a real pleasure to see so many enjoying the facilities at St Mark’s.
Our Open Evening on October 4th was very well attended, as was our subsequent Open Morning. We were delighted to welcome so many Valley Schools’ parents and pupils, eager to learn more about life at St Mark’s. On Friday, 19th October we visited Batheaston Primary School, where we were able to answer so many insightful questions from parents and pupils. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Headteacher, Sarah Weber, for being so accommodating. Over the coming weeks, work will begin in earnest on the construction of The New Sixth; a joint Sixth Form provision for both St Mark’s and St Gregory’s. I am sure that reports and pictures will appear in future editions as staff and students prepare themselves for the opening in September 2013. And so for a nice lay down before the new term begins!
St Mark’s CommunityParty Friday December 14th 2pm at St Mark’s School
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For those unfamiliar with this St Mark’s tradition, the Community Party is an event run by the students and staff of St Mark’s School and is an opportunity for them to celebrate Christmas with our community, inviting local residents aged 65 or over to join us for an afternoon of festive fun and frivolity! This year, we celebrate our 43rd year of running the Community Christmas Party, an unbelievable feat by today’s standards. Students and staff are already busy raising funds for this annual event and will soon begin auditions and rehearsals for the afternoon’s entertainment. If you are, or you know someone who is, aged 65 or over, and would like an invitation to the party, please telephone the school office on 312661 before Monday 3rd December.
C
hristmas
raft Fayre
Saturday 1 December 11am - 3pm St Mark’s School A sprinkling of Christmas magic comes to St Mark’s School on Saturday December 1st, with our Christmas Craft Fayre. The event will be held from 11am - 3pm in the main school hall and will feature a range of art and craft activities for children of all ages, inspired by the festive season. This year’s Fayre is being organised by the St Mark’s School Association (SMSA), Year 11 students and staff, to help raise funds for the PTA and Year 11 Leavers’ Prom to be held later in the academic year. There will be a range of hands-on craft activities which will enable children to make some fantastic Christmas presents of their own! Children can take part in a variety of fun and festive crafts whilst parents can enjoy a warming hot chocolate and mince pie. All activities will be priced between 50p to £2.
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Swainswick Primary
The children who submitted designs were invited to be part of a working party led by two of the parents. The working party decided how the elements of the individual designs should be incorporated into one main design, and the parents Josie and Chrystal drew up designs based on all the ideas. After a lot of discussion the children agreed on the design and the colours they would like used, and the sign went off to be made. The School Council then had the responsibility of choosing the vision statement to be put onto the sign. They chose ‘Where people matter most’.
If you’ve been through Upper Swainswick village recently you will see that Swainswick School are the proud owners of a new sign outside the school. It was finally installed on 5th October and was the culmination of ideas involving the whole school community. It was commissioned by the governing body of the school, and then all the families in the school were invited to submit designs.
Freestyle Designs installed the sign on the morning of 5th October, and it was covered over until the grand unveiling ceremony during the afternoon. The sign was unveiled by members of the design team during the afternoon in the presence of all the staff and children. Isabella ( Y3), one of the design team commented ’Everyone cheered when it was unveiled, and it was exciting to know that it was something I’d worked on’.
Special thanks to the design team, Mollie and Zac, Isabella and Freddie, Jack, Ethan, Wylde and Leon, led by Chrystal and Josie. Special thanks also to our foundation governor, Mavis Trask, who commissioned the sign on the school wall, with the same design, and the words: This is our school Let peace dwell here Let the rooms be full of joy Let love abide here. By Louise Cripps, Headteacher
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StSt e p h e n ’s S c h o ol
By Year 6 Pupils, Freddie, Henry, Emile, Jonty, Bethany, Charlotte and Louis
Can you afford to choose your secondary school? Every parent is legally bound to make sure their child attends school. Fact. Young people must stay in education until they are 18. Fact. Parents are given the option to choose the school their child attends. Fact. Parents can afford to send them to the school of their choice. Fiction. We are all Year Six pupils and this week we have to complete the forms that will determine our secondary education. Will the cost of travelling to school affect our choices?
An annual bus ticket costs £400 per year if you are under 16. In the term you reach 16, it goes up to £680 per year. If you don’t have a bus pass, it costs £15 per week. In some places in Britain, for example in London, children can travel to school free on a bus. This is really unfair for the young people in Bath. I don’t understand why B&NES can’t do the same thing. Our class think all school children should have a bus pass free but only to be used in term time and at certain times. Between 7am and 9am and again from 3pm to 5pm seems reasonable. If all young people have to be in full time education until they are 18, shouldn’t the bus fares be the same for all ages? They don’t need more than one seat and I cannot imagine that someone’s bottom will grow significantly between the ages of 16 and 18, therefore requiring two seats! Maybe all children should walk to school. Good point. This seems like an excellent idea. It’s a cheap and healthy option. But… have you seen the new Year 7s stumbling to school everyday, bags filled with massive textbooks and trying to hold a full PE kit. They look like baboons bent over, exhausted and collapsing with every step. Many lose their balance and books fly out into puddles in the gutter and when they bend down to get them, they join their books on the wet pavement. What about cycling to school? It’s cheaper but highly dangerous! Imagine this: a child on a bicycle with a guitar, a cricket kit, including the bat, and all their books for the day, trying to fit onto the cycle path (providing there is one). It is impossible. Perhaps the Council should widen them for this purpose?
Maybe schools should have lift-up desks again so we could leave our books in school and only carry the books we need for homework. It would also make sense to have a PE locker, to avoid carrying our kit everyday. This would certainly improve our backs and make it easier to cycle to school. There is the argument that says ‘everyone should go to his or her local school’.This could work, but in Bath there is a problem. All schools would have to become mixed because you may live by a school that is single-sex.This would limit the choices in Bath because some people think that their children would suit a single-sex school and would get a better education there.There is also the problem that the schools themselves may not want to change. The Government says that every parent has the right to choose the school for their child. Many parents apply for a religious school however, the Council are trying to remove the cheaper fares to denominational schools which means that they cannot attend such a school and will miss out on the religious education that is so important to their families. The big question is, why would anyone pay £400 for a bus ticket every year, when it is cheaper to drive – especially if you have more than one child. In fact, if families joined together it can be cheaper to get a taxi. We have been trying to reduce pollution and congestion in Bath, so imagine all the cars that would not be on the roads if all school children had a free bus pass. I reckon that if I took a penny a day from every car driving to school and back, I could probably buy a bus! Then we could all go for free!
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Be a part of
Larkhall Festival
Sixth Form Development Update Pictured: Head students of St Mark’s and St Gregory’s
2013
Planning permission has been granted for the new joint sixth form development between St Mark’s and St Gregory’s Catholic College in Bath. The Development Control Committee of B&NES voted almost unanimously in favour of the development. St Mark’s head students, Jenny, Renee, Ben and Sam attended the committee, speaking on behalf of the students of St Mark’s School and making a powerful argument for a new joint sixth form based in Bath. Main contractors, E R Hemmings, have now been appointed with construction work likely to start in late October for completion next July.
Karate Club at St Mark’s Mondays and Wednesdays (term time only) Under 16s 6:15pm - 7:15pm Adults 7:15pm - 8:45pm The first session if free of charge with each subsequent lesson charged at £2.50, there is also an annual fee for personal injury insurance. Karate suits are available from the Club at below retail prices. For more information, please telephone Chris Nix on 07870 761431.
Who wouldn't want to live in Larkhall? So much goes on here – there are shops that meet most everyday needs; pubs and eateries to keep you fed and entertained; New Oriel Hall offering everything from art to Zumba; Larkhall Athletic Football Club with teams for all ages; attractive Alice Park where you can enjoy lunch, play petanque or dig over the beds in the community garden, and of course The Rondo Theatre. And then there are all the artists and craftspeople working in homes and studios; pretty hidden away gardens; amateur and professional musicians playing every kind of music, writers, comedians and people organising all sorts of sports and social clubs. The annual Larkhall Festival over the May Day bank holiday weekend joins all these things together in one big free-to-attend celebration of the creativity and activity in our community. 2013 will be the Festival's 5th anniversary and planning is well under way with the expected return of the Open Studios and supporting exhibitions, open gardens, Choir by Fire (not necessarily with actual fire), Extra Factory, Party in the Park and a whole range of activities to showcase local talent, interests and various aspects of community life.This year we are especially looking for more children's workshops, which have proved hugely popular in the past, and local makers who would be interested in selling at a craft market. The Festival is run by volunteers and we always need people to help out – it’s a great opportunity to develop skills and gain experience, or learn how to do something totally new. Or if you want to make your own exciting ideas come to fruition, the festival could be the way to make it happen. Please contact us to discuss your ideas as soon as possible, at least before Christmas as the programme starts to get firmed up early in the New Year. To look back at what happened last year, support the festival by becoming a member, send us a proposal for a new idea or find out more, visit the Larkhall Festival website www.larkhall-festival.org.uk or email festival@larkhallfestival.org.uk. We also have a Facebook page www.facebook.com/LarkhallFestival and you can follow us on Twitter @larkhallfest If you are interested in being part of the art trail or exhibition go to larkhallopenstudios.weebly.com, hit contact, send details and find out more. Please come forward now, as all are welcome.
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Valley Added
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launches at St Mark’s On Saturday, 13th October, St Mark’s School was transformed into a hive of activity and enterprise, as thirty-eight students from St Saviour’s Infant and Junior Schools, and Swainswick and St Stephen’s Primary Schools took part in the inaugural workshop event of the “Valley Added” Project. Valley Added is a community based, intergenerational learning project that will bring together children, young people and adults from all areas of the community to learn from each other and support the local schools and businesses through mutual benefits. The project, which will benefit the whole community and will look at new ways of educating learners of all ages, continues the legacy of the highly popular APEX programme which was successfully run by B&NES for a number of years, until the funding ceased in August of this year.
“real world”. The project has been backed by six local businesses, who have committed their time and resources to get the enterprise off the ground. Three of the Business Partners, Parklife Entertainment Ltd, Ideas of the Mind and Tony’s Greengrocers, showed their support by joining in the workshops on 13th October. Tony Hickman, proprietor of Parklife Entertainment Ltd, who have cafes in Alice Park, Bath and Keynsham Memorial Park, enthused,
The workshops followed the journey of a vegetable “From Seed to Shop” and the students had fun planting, learning how vegetables and spices grow, cooking and tasting vegetable curries, looking at branding and designing packaging, photography and animation, and learning all about journalism and how to write articles for magazines.
“I think this fantastic initiative shows progress towards the integration of the education and business sectors and I am very pleased to be involved with furthering this concept within our community through the Valley Added Project.”
As well as being fun, the workshops will inspire the students to start their own enterprise, making and selling a food product through Alice Park Café. This will help sustain the project in the long term, and help give the students some of the skills they will need in the
The project also has the support of local ward councillors Bryan Chalker and Dave Laming. Councillor Chalker, who attended the event with his wife Glenys, said, “As one of the two ward councillors for Lambridge, I was enormously impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the children involved in the Valley
Added Project and congratulations to all concerned for putting it in place. I am more than happy to support this scheme as another APEX success story. Hopefully, I and fellow ward councillor, Dave Laming, will be able to provide some financial help from our 2013 Councillor’s Initiative Fund and am also keen to advise on herb growing and uses, both culinary and medicinal.” The next set of Saturday Workshops will take place on February 2nd 2013, and will offer members of the community the opportunity to learn new skills or experience something different in an inspiring and enjoyable way. For further information, contact Merryl Elias,Valley Added Project Manager on 07914 920248 or pop into St Mark’s School, St Saviour’s Infant or Junior Schools, St Stephen’s Primary School or Swainswick Primary School. Valley Added is supported by the following Business Partners: Ideas of the Mind, Tony’s Greengrocers, Sweet Cumin Indian Home Cookery, Norland College, Parklife Entertainment Ltd and Social-i.
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From Seed to Shop... The first workshop was called “Magic Vegetables” and was about the way the food was grown. The main food was cress. They explained that sometimes they planted it in cotton wool instead of soil. The roots grew first and then the shoots appear. Inside they use tap water and outside they need rain. They had lots of vegetables in the room; they were chives, ginger, garlic, sweet corn, chilli pepper, spring onions and celery. In this classroom the people were 6 years old. The second workshop was called “Cooking with Vegetables”. I noticed that they were cooking a vegetable curry from Gujarati which is a place in India. On a hot day in India it is 50C and in England it is 20C . The ingredients were ground coriander, mild chilli powder, ground aniseed, mustard seeds, minced garlic and cumin. Also there was something called vegetable biryani which they tasted. The third workshop was called “Getting your Product to Market”. The Unique Selling Point or USP was discussed, photos were taken and packaging discussed and decided on. So basically it is about advertising your product. The final workshop is us – the journalists who are writing about the other three and learning about newspapers. We all had a great time! James Year 6, St Stephen’s School Bath
Pictured: Opposite page, a budding scientist from Year 3 demonstrates in full technicolor how a Sweet Pepper grows from seed. Top left, Tony Hickman from Parklife Entertainment Ltd discusses photography techniques used on food packaging with Year 5 children. Centre, Gerald Rich from Tony’s Greengrocer’s is interviewed by our Year 6 roving reporter. Top right, Children from Year 2, together with Karl Winsby from Ideas of the Mind and Gerald Rich, are mesmerised by “The Secret Life of Vegetables and Spices”. Bottom right, Cllr Bryan Chalker and his wife Glenys sample the vegetable curry cooked by Year 4 children.
On Saturday morning at St Mark’s there was a morning workshop for children from other schools. There were three workshops. One was called “Cooking with Vegetables.” There were ladies who are running this workshop. They are called Jackie and Sue. The children were making curry, potatoes, cauliflower and tomatoes. There were seven children. When they finished their cooking, they have to do their exercise before they do their exercise, they will taste them. There are so many spices Coriander, Asafoetida, Chilli powder, Cumin, Garlic, Mustard, Turmeric. The second workshop was called Magic of Vegetables. They were planting a cress seed. There were 14 children. There were two ladies called Shelagh who is running the workshop and Paula who is helping her. The third work shop was called guessing products. They will take photos of the product, choose the packaging and then sell it. There was a man called James who told as about what USP stands for – Unique Selling Point. The reporters who wrote this report were the fourth workshop and we went round asking questions and writing up the answers. Donna Jimmy Year 6
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Larkhall’s Americana Links By Br yan Chalker, pictured above Bath’s Americana Festival made its debut in 2011 and featured ace banjo player and Larkhall resident, Leon Hunt, in its roster of acoustic-based stars but this year’s event, which kicked off at The American Museum on July 4th boasted no fewer than five musicians from our ‘village’. The Festival’s Artistic Director, Cllr. Bryan Chalker, discusses Larkhall’s input and why our home-grown artistes are so important. The Americana Festival has been a total of seven years in the making and many of those were spent convincing the Council officials in charge of such events that, given the right exposure and promotion, bluegrass, old-time, hillbilly and Cajun music could be a force to be reckoned with. The first such festival, with its strong Appalachian thread, was a resounding success, with Leon Hunt & Scoville Units wowing audiences at the Widcombe Social Club and the Olde Boston Tea Party providing St. Mark’s School with its first-ever taste of bluegrass music and the sweet sounds of the autoharp, courtesy of Bob Fish.
PICTURED: A BEAUTIFULLY EXECUTED LINE-DRAWING REPRESENTING THE APPALACHIAN MUSICAL ETHOS
Bluegrass music is a peculiar hybrid borne out of a fusion of Scottish folk influences and a hard-driving rhythm provided by banjo, mandolin and fiddle and generally attributed to Kentucky-born Bill Monroe, the doyen of mandolin players the world over and author of countless great country songs, including ‘Blue Moon Of Kentucky’, which Elvis Presley adapted to suit his vibrant rockabilly style. It’s worth noting that the state of Kentucky is noted for its quarter horses and grass tinged with blue, due to the chemical content of the soil; hence, Kentucky bluegrass. When Monroe’s ‘new’ music first hit the radio waves in America as early as 1945, DJs were at a loss to describe this string-band sound, with its hugely distinctive, three-finger style 5-string banjo riffs, and dubbed it ‘bluegrass music’. The name stuck and whilst many rural communities continued to refer to Bill Monroe’s music as plain old ‘hillbilly’, the rest of the world began to familiarise itself with a refreshingly different strand of country music and the name ‘bluegrass’ stuck. Putting together the Americana Festivals has been a labour of love for me but I couldn’t have done it without the huge support of another local resident, Phil Castang, of Bath’s In-
ternational Guitar Festival. Phil lives in Fairfield Park and was responsible for booking the artistes and negotiating their fees. We also worked together on the design of the Americana logo, brochures and publicity in general. Until their appearance at the American Museum on Sunday, July 8, I was blissfully unaware of the existence of the Carrivick Sisters, Charlotte and Laura and amazed to discover that they live in Larkhall, just off the Gloucester Road! The Carrivicks, with their impeccable close-harmony singing and brilliant instrumentation (banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and dobro) were a revelation and filled the lower auditorium at the American Museum to capacity. More than 200 people attended the twins’ performance that afternoon and were enthralled by their skilful interweaving of standard material associated with bluegrass and western-swing and their own finely crafted songs. Charlotte and Laura both write and to date I have played two of their compositions, ‘Stars’ and ‘The Old Apple Tree’, on my Somer Valley FM 97.5 Sunday evening show ‘ Same Roots, Different Fruits’. These songs are featured on the Carrivicks’ CD ‘Jupiter’s Corner’ and as a former record reviewer for Melody Maker, Record & Show Mirror, Music Maker
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CHARLOTTE AND LAURA CARRIVICK
and various other similar publications, I can heartily recommend it. Other tracks include ‘Only Hills’, ‘The William and Emma’, ‘Song For The Year’, ‘The Sticky Bread Set’ and ‘Slip Away’, all composed by the sisters, and the time-honoured bluegrass classic ‘Darlin’ Corey’. This has been a hectic year for Larkhall’s Carrivick Sisters, because even before their appearance at the prestigious American Music at Claverton Manor, the girls had performed in Staffordshire, Scotland, Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Essex, Devon and Cornwall, Germany and Austria. OUT OF THE BREW
Another Larkhall-based ensemble is the richly diverse Out Of The Brew which, whilst ceilidhbased, easily morphs into a country five-piece, or full dance unit with the addition of two fiddle players. This remarkable group of musicians, made up of Chris Dance (bass), Chic Abrahams (mandolin and banjo) and Andy Kimber (harmonica and bodhran) from Larkhall, and Nick Jones (guitar and vocals), Simon Fossey (banjo and vocals) and Nicky Pockock (fiddle) from other areas of Bath, have a great sound. Their appearance earlier this year at a St. Saviour’s Church ceilidh, where they ably backed me for a few songs, made their eventual inclusion in Bath’s Americana Festival a ‘must’. In fact, Out Of The Brew were
featured on no less than three separate occasions and again provided superb accompaniment for my own set at the Chapel Arts Centre on July 5. The fact that we all love music helps a great deal and working with these guys is an absolute pleasure. By the time you read this, Bryan Chalker & Out Of The Brew will have performed at Dick Willows’ ‘A Sumptous Banquet’ event on October 6 and the ‘Soul Food’ musical extravaganza at Green Park Tavern on October 19. This could be the start of something good, methinks! I should also add that Out Of The Brew were stalwarts of my ‘Picking In The Parlour’ shindig in the Mayor’s Parlour (whilst I was Mayor), when we managed to raise more than £2,000 for the Mayor of Bath’s Relief Fund. The musicians of Larkhall have been partly responsible for my new show on Somer Valley FM, which commenced on September 9, because I was so frustrated that musicians of the calibre of the Carrivick Sisters, Leon Hunt and Out Of The Brew were unable to gain any radio exposure for their recordings. Somer Valley FM’s Director, Dom Chambers, was extremely supportive of both Americana Festivals and invited me to promote them – with music from some of the artistes involved – on several occasions and later invited me to present my own weekly show. This is now a Heaven-sent opportunity for me to promote all local musicians on a community radio station – but more than that, Somer Valley FM, via www.somervalleyfm.co.uk, can also be listened to on the internet and my first show prompted emails from as far afield as Germany and East Texas! I move to a Monday evening slot – 8pm-9pm – from October 15 but the musical content of ‘Same Roots, Different Fruits’ will remain the same; an eclectic mix of bluegrass, Cajun, TexMex, gospel, blues, reggae, Hawaiian, folk, oldtime, ceilidh, hillbilly and country – and a strong emphasis on home-grown talent. If you are local and would like radio exposure, then please send your CDs to me at 57 Quarry Rock Gardens, Claverton Down, BA2 6EG.
The Larkhall Village Kitchen The column that puts creativity back into cooking with the majority of ingredients sourced from Larkhall shops, gardens or allotments.
Workingman’s Pudding This recipe originated in Yorkshire and was noted for its economy, hence its popularity during two World Wars. Ingredients: 1 cup of plain flour ¼ cup of brown sugar 1 cup of mixed dried fruit 1 level teaspoonful of ground mixed spice 1 cup of boiling water 1 level teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda (baking power) 1 dessertspoonful of margarine Method: Mix the ingredients together and beat well. Put the mixture into a well-greased basin and cover with floured, pleated muslin (to allow for expansion) and boil for 2 hours. Serve with jam or hot custard.
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My St Mark’s ‘The Reunion’ by Rowan Camm Year 8, St Mark’s School Hi my name is Rowan. I came to Bath from Sydney in April 2006 and joined Saint Saviour's Infant School to finish my Year 1. Whilst there I soon became friends with Ruben who invited me to his birthday party and later became friends with Ed and Archie who were in the other Year 1 class. After Year 2 we started Junior School. I moved on to Swainswick (where my dad went). I made friends at Swainswick and still see some of them but Ruben went on to St Saviour’s Junior while Ed and Archie moved to St Stephen's. In Year 6 I was looking forward to moving to senior school but I was worried about not knowing how things would work out. But at the New Year 7 evening at St Mark’s I was reunited with Ruben, Ed and Archie.
The four of us are still very good friends and often get together after school and at weekends. My friends are all different. Ruben is very clever and hardworking, Archie Pictured: Rowan, centre, with friends Ed and Archie is sporty and loves outat school. We particularly enjoyed the Outdoor activities while Ed is very funny and is great on stage. We all have one thing in com- door Ice Skating and Dry Slope skiing trips with the "Dare to Enter Club". We had a fun mon and that is we just LOVE Minecraft. three days at Kilve Court in Year 7 and are We've also had some great times together looking forward to the Paris Trip in 2013.
Competiton! strictly for the children...
Win a family ticket to see HEIDI - A GOAT’S TALE at the egg this Christmas and enjoy the delights of this classic Swiss story with a hysterical twist... Join Heidi and a herd of side-splitting mountain goats as they re-tell this heart-warming story of the irrepressible little girl with a big heart who changes the lives of everyone she meets. Jam-packed with live Alpine music, visual, inventive and very funny indeed, this year’s egg Christmas show promises to be an all-round treat for all the family. If you would like the chance to win a family ticket for 4 (2 adults & 2 children or 1 adult & 3 children) to watch Heidi A Goat’s Tale at the egg theatre (date to be confirmed) just enter our fabulous COMPETITION! All you have to do is paint or draw a festive Swiss-them picture and submit it to: The Editor, The Larkhall News, St Mark’s School, Bay Tree Road, Larkhall, BA1 6ND by Monday 3rd December. Make sure that your name, address, school and a contact telephone number are clearly written on the back of your picture. Entrants must be aged 4 - 16 and have the permission of their parent or carer. The winning entry and two runners up will also have their picture displayed at the egg theatre throughout the production!
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Larkhall Business in Focus... When it comes to web design, most of us are presented with two options: either we use one of the ‘do it yourself ’ companies like the ones we see on TV, or we go to a marketing company and get a bespoke design. But neither seems able to provide what we actually need – a great looking website uniquely tailored to our needs, but at a price that won’t break the bank. The DIY route means we get shoe-horned into a pre-designed template already used by hundreds of others, spend hours wrestling with the user-unfriendly design interface and end up with a site which is not really as we want it and for which we pay monthly forever. Also, for anything other than the simplest site, the price is often not as low as the headline suggests. Of course dedicated marketing companies will offer all the individual attention we need and a specifically designed site - but at a price that will get you reaching for the Kleenex. That’s why Larkhall Marketing exists – to make the decision to have a website an easier one: one to one consultation, bespoke design specific to the client’s wishes, hosting, unlimited content changes, webmail, website submission and lots of friendly advice. Prices begin at £149 with no other hidden charges. And if you decide you’d like to take your site somewhere else in the future, they just give you the files. Once paid for, the site is yours – forever. Statistics tell us that over 75% of people looking for a product or service use the web first. Having some kind of web presence is therefore essential, particularly for smaller organisations or start-ups. Martin Phillips, Larkhall Marketing
Park Life! So that was summer then, was it? Did I miss it? I think it was July 8th. So it's back to rain and misery, and like a customer just said to me – it was a mild autumn from May, and now it's real autumn! Thankfully, we are still open and still serving rather good coffee and of course our special fairtrade hot chocolate. So what's on? Well, the football team is into its second season and Pat and the lads are doing rather well! Premiership in five years’ time! They usually pop down after a game, so come and meet the guys. And if you are a bit handy, then why not join the club? No Spark in the Park this year I'm afraid. We thought long and hard about it and decided not to; last year was not quite right and actually getting hold of real quiet (as opposed to being told they are quiet) fireworks is proving rather more difficult than I had planned. Next year we are planning a Festival of Fire event, which features, er, fire, rather than fireworks. That will be nice. December of course will see our Hark In The Park and Christmas Wishes event, which was really well received last year, and features a tree to put your wishes on, carol singing and other stuff! This will be either 16th or 23rd of December, so please pop into the cafe or check the Facebook page to find out the actual date! In the meantime, keep coming down to see me, Russ, Katie, Jenny, Charlie and now Laura – get some nice hot chocolate and keep enjoying the great outdoors – no matter how wet it may be! Soak you in the park Tony and Co
An occasional look at what's up down the Park...
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To promote your business locally contact us on 01225 312661
New Oriel Hall Diary of Events Snuggling in the heart of Larkhall village, New Oriel Hall continues to be the thriving hub of community life.
Saturday 10th November – Little Pickles Market – Great market full of stalls of all things Christmassy and geared towards children, plus a great café.
The timetable is jam-packed full of great classes, from exercise, Pilates, dance, meditation and yoga to art history, life drawing and French, with a host of pre-school activities for mums and toddlers too. With wonderfully light airy rooms the hall is also a very popular choice for wedding couples as the perfect space to hold their reception. If you’re having a party, either for yourself or your child, you’ll find very reasonable rates and a friendly service waiting for you right on your doorstep.
Friday 16th November – Sarah’s Fantastic Massive Christmas Clothes Sale –20 stalls of great quality second hand clothes – many items under £5, party dresses, shoes, bags and winter clothes. To sell call Sarah on Bath 461258. Doors open 7.30pm.
The run-up to the festive season is always busy, with fabulous workshops, fundraisers and sales adding a delightfully Christmassy flavour to their weekends.
Saturday 17th November – Police Beat Surgery with local beat police 10am -12pm. Swainswick School Christmas Fayre – 9.00am – 5.30pm – Fantastic stalls and refreshments.
Saturday 17th November – Christmas Mums Market 9am – 2pm - organised by Sandra Barter from Networking Mummies. Lots of interesting stalls and a café.
You can find out more details about everything going on by looking at their web site which is updated weekly. www.neworielhall.org.uk or check out the large timetable on the notice board outside the hall.
Sunday 2nd December - Writing Events – 10am -1 pm - KEEP ON WRITING: a workshop with Alex and Jude for anyone who needs a gentle push to keep going (or get started!) with their writing.
Alternatively just give them a call in the office on Bath 01225 466606.
Saturday 2nd December – Carolling Workshop – 10.30am – 4.30pm – tel 01225 867366.
Football News at Plain Ham
Saturday 8th December – CLIC Sergeant Coffee Morning 10am– 1pm Sunday 9th December – Alice Park Community Gardens Christmas Fundraiser 2pm – 4pm
Larkhall Sports Club have been very busy fundraising over the last few months to raise the money needed to extend and improve the clubhouse facilities. Following a grant of £50,000 from Sport England, Larkhall Football Club are celebrating once again after winning another grant for just over £96,000 from the Football Foundation.This, together with some very kind donations from friends and supporters, takes them very nearly to their target of around £200,000. The Club are still actively seeking donations and are running a 'buy a brick for £20' scheme. Everyone who contributes will be recorded on a plaque in the rebuilt clubhouse. If you are interested in 'buying a brick' or donating in any other way please do contact Clive Burge on 01225 311156 or email him at cliveburge57@yahoo.co.uk or Tracey Hill, telephone 01225 444944 or email traceh_99@yahoo.com. The season is in full swing now and the Larks are busy with league and cup fixtures. They are still in the Somerset Premier Cup and the FA Vase, as well as the Les Phillips League Cup. League results have been more mixed with the squad dogged by injury. Despite this, they are holding their own and with a stronger squad available now, are expecting more consistent success in the league. The Ladies team have made a fantastic start to the season, currently lying second in the league and are having a great run in the FA Cup too. If you are free on Saturday afternoons and/or Wednesday evenings (or Sunday afternoons for the Ladies Team), please go along to Plain Ham to receive a very warm welcome!
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Grand Designs for the Community Garden www.aliceparkcommunitygarden.org
www.facebook.com/aliceparkcommunitygarden
The Alice Park Community Garden is on the cusp of a very special announcement. All that can be said at the moment is that there will be an opportunity for anyone interested in green timber building to be involved in an exciting project – our very own Alice Park Community Garden ‘Grand Design’. Please get in touch now if you are interested. Our last building project has had plenty of visitors – some of the toad kind. The wildlife pond is settling in wonderfully after a terrific
effort from the volunteers, inspired by an expert workshop by Stephen Pritchard. We’re happy to take donations of plants, then let nature take over. Thanks again to Wessex Water for providing the funding to kick-start this project.
day workdays in November.
Another grant, from Bath Building Society, has funded outdoor gardening play events for children at the community garden and Snow Hill. Over half-term the garden hosted young carers, aged five to 11, as well as children from the local area who may not ordinarily have access to a garden at home.
Sunday 9 Dec, 2pm–4pm, New Oriel Hall: Christmas fundraiser for Alice Park Community Garden – free craft workshops for kids (make your own presents and decorations) and all ages (including willow-weaving), plus cakes, seasonal goodies, refreshments, raffle for a Christmas hamper. Donations towards Alice Park Community Garden.
The next big volunteer construction will be to lay a gridded hardcore surface all around the beds to make things easier for wheelchair users. If you think you can spare a spade and some muscle and team spirit, do join our Sun-
Workshops in the Alice Park Community Garden, please contact Fiona Williams (fiona.williams@greenliving.co.uk) to book and check last-minute availability.
Monday 17 December, New Oriel Hall: Insulate for Winter workshop – contact Transition Larkhall for more details.
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To promote your business locally contact us on 01225 312661