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The Pucklechurch community website |
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If you have signed up for emails and are not getting them please check the following: |
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June 2006 |
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30th Anniversary for Revel Beer Festival The Pucklechurch Revel Beer Festival started in 1976. At the first beer festival, the organisers expected about 360 people to turn up, but over a thousand actually attended… but that is another story. Thirty years makes this one of the oldest real ale festivals in the U.K. Although there was a short hiatus some years back, the beer festival has gone from strength to strength. The Revel Beer Festival provides an excellent night of entertainment and fun. Sample 28 different real ales of all types and strengths, mostly sourced from local breweries, as well as farmhouse cider. There's also wine available for those who don't usually order their drinks by the pint. However, the beers on offer have such a wide range of flavours and strengths that most people will find something to their taste. In past years, even some who said they didn’t like beer have been pleasantly surprised. Headlining the entertainment this year we have She Said on Friday night and the return of the very popular Cable Co on Saturday. Friday night will start traditionally with the Pigsty Morris, and then She Said will rock the marquee for the rest of the evening. On Saturday, Cable Co's set will feature some original material (a mix of guitar and keyboard-driven new rock), but you can expect a good selection of covers from the likes of Van Morrison, Paul McCartney, U2, Robbie Williams, Ocean Colour Scene, Jimi Hendrix, Counting Crows, The Beatles and many more. Pucklechurch Sports Football Club will be once again providing delightful delicacies from the BBQ. Don’t miss their famous steak sandwiches! Remember this is the Revel Beer Festival -- all profits go to village causes. The Revel Committee wish to thank the Star Inn for donating the use of their car park and conservatory for the two days of the festival. Tickets are strictly limited (to avoid a thousand turning up!), so hurry and don’t miss out. Tickets, which are £6 for one night and £10 for both nights, are on sale from the Star Inn, Post Office and the Social Club above the Village Hall. When is the best time for your next event? There is a lot going on in Pucklechurch, particularly in spring and early summer. Have you ever organised an event only to find out that something else was planned for the same date? How can organisations pick a date that doesn’t clash with other events? The simplest way is to use the village calendar on the Pucklechurch Community Website. It needn't be a major event or one open to everyone to be put on the village calendar. If all organisations in the village used the calendar, event clashes could be avoided. View the village calendar at: www.pucklechurch.org/html/calendar.html Getting your event or meeting added to the calendar is easy. You can call Martin on 937 4437, send an email with the date, time, place and name of the event to webmaster@pucklechurch.org, or easiest of all, fill in the online form by visiting the village calendar page on the website and clicking on the link where you see “Click here to fill out a simple form” at the top of the page. The form prompts you for all the information needed. Martin Smith, Webmaster Health Walk in July Following the success of our last walk in April, we invite you to join us on a new rural walk in and around Pucklechurch on Monday, 17th July, at 7pm. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be on offer after the walk. Walking to Health is a nationwide scheme to encourage people to get out and about in their local communities and get fitter in the process. The project in the Yate, Sodbury and Dodington area began in January this year, and we have managed to encourage almost 200 local people to don their walking shoes since then. Our walks are friendly, fun and can be done at your own pace. We have a committed group of walk leaders to help you get around on the day. The July walk covers mostly even ground, but there are a couple of more challenging sections! We will walk for about an hour and cover about 3.5 miles. You can just turn up on the day, but if you would like any further information about this and other walks in our Summer Walks Programme, please do not hesitate to contact Christine Farr on (01454) 863899 or e-mail at Christine.Farr@southglos.gov.uk.
In the grand scheme of things, it sometimes feels as if the actions and opinions of an individual have little impact. This is not always so. Consider this scenario: Pucklechurch has a population of about 2,000. Let's say that for a variety of reasons, including age and health, only 1,500 of these are able to participate in this little exercise. Now let's say that every day these 1,500 people pick up just one piece of litter near their house and put it in their bin. In one week, the result would be a staggering 10,500 pieces of litter removed from the streets of Pucklechurch! Of course, the best way to eliminate litter is not to drop it in the first place. Let's say that just 5% of the population is responsible for the litter in our village. Instead of dropping their litter, if these 100 people put just one piece of litter a day in one of the many bins around the village, in one week that would be 700 pieces of litter that did not make it onto our streets. Add the two together for a grand total of over 11,000 pieces of litter each week that would not spoil our lovely village. In one month, that would be over 44,000 pieces! Is there even that much rubbish on our streets? This example illustrates how the actions of an individual, though seemingly inconsequential, can lead to a significant improvement in our local community. Perhaps these figures will encourage each person in the village to pick up just one piece of litter each day. It might not seem like much, but it could result in a reduction in the amount of rubbish that spoils our wonderful environment. Will you be someone who makes a difference? The Parish Plan for Pucklechurch and Shortwood will help define what the people who live, work and play in the parish want for the future. It will endeavour to set out a vision of what is important to the people of our parish: how new developments can best be fitted in, how to preserve valued local features and which facilities the community wants to safeguard and/or develop for the future. Over the next few months, everyone in the parish will be invited to give their views on what they think are the important aspects and issues of village life that need to be addressed over the next 10 years. A team from the parish, the Parish Plan Steering Group, will spearhead the development of the plan. However, the plan itself will be based on the input from people who live and work here. The Parish Plan Process To complete the Parish Plan, there will be wide-ranging consultation with individuals and groups around the parish, as well as a detailed questionnaire that will be compiled and circulated later in the year. The input from these activities will form basis of the Parish Plan. All households, groups and businesses in the village will be consulted to ensure that the Parish Plan is as valid and influential as possible. The key activities over the next three months will be:
Benefits of a Parish Plan Developing a Parish Plan will have a number of direct and indirect benefits for our parish:
If you feel you can help with the work of producing the Parish Plan, please contact Martin Smith on 937 4437 or send an email to parish.plan@pucklechurch.org. PCA Facilities Manager Position The Pucklechurch Community Association is currently looking to fill the position of facilities manager. This part-time role involves the day-to-day management of the Community Centre facilities, including acting as the contact for users of the building to report maintenance issues, identifying maintenance problems, recommending corrective actions to the PCA Executive Committee, choosing suitable contractors, and overseeing their work. The number of hours varies (fewer than 10 hours per week) which can be arranged to suit your schedule. Wages are hourly plus expenses. The ideal candidate would have both project management and people skills. Having a computer and experience with spreadsheets and simple project management applications is a plus. DIY skills are not required because recent laws mean that all maintenance work must be carried out by a qualified contractor. The facilities manager is a Community Centre keyholder and should also be a member of the PCA Executive Committee. Apply by letter, summarising your relevant skills and experience, to: Peter Lugg, 6 Hawkridge Drive, Pucklechurch, Bristol, BS16 9SL. Zoom in on the Revel Photo Competition Pucklechurch Revel will sponsor the second annual Bob Stone Memorial Photography Competition in 2006. The competition is open to amateur photographers who are residents of Pucklechurch, Shortwood, Abson, Westerleigh, Hinton, Doynton, and Dyrham and any student attending Pucklechurch Primary School. This year's competition has two age groups and two categories, each of which will be judged separately for first, second, and third place. To help fund the prizes, there will be a fee of £1 per entry for adults, but entry is free for those 17 and under. Prizes will include cash, vouchers, and/or merchandise. Age groups: Categories:
All entries are due in by July 30th. Entry rules are available from the website as well as in the local post office and shops during June and July. Entries will be judged over the summer with the exhibition and prize-giving scheduled for September. See entry form for details. Jacki Berry Come and watch the Revel pram race on Thursday, June 15th, 6.30pm for 7.00… just after the World Cup match where England beats Trinidad and Tobago. Better yet, bring your own "pram" and join the race! This year's race will be run on grass -- the course will be laid out on the Rec to make it more exciting for spectators and safer for the participants -- and dedicated to the memory of Bob Todd. There will be a £20 cash prize for the best fancy dress, as well as the fastest times for under 18s and 18+. We really want to encourage fancy dress, so there will be a time penalty of 1 minute for each team member not in fancy dress -- that's a two-minute penalty if neither team member makes an effort. Teams consist of two members, and "prams" must be pushed (not motorised or pedal driven). Because we'll be running on grass, large-wheeled vehicles such as wheelbarrows and wagons will be more effective. No shopping trolleys or the like will be allowed because they would damage the playing field. There's no fee to enter, but signed entry forms must be received before you can participate. Pick up entry forms and rules from the Post Office, the Star Inn, or the Pucklechurch Social Club. To encourage spectators, the Revel Committee will host a barbecue at the Pucklechurch Social Club, and there will be a contest to see who can down a yard of ale the fastest. Do come and join us for an evening of revelry! Food, Glorious Food… and Fun Too: Revel Day 2006 This year's Revel Day -- Saturday, June 17th -- will provide a dazzling array of food and fun. The Revel Parade kicks things off at noon with a colourful procession through the streets of Pucklechurch, beginning and ending at the Village Hall car park. Entries should assemble in the Village Hall car park in the morning and be ready for judging by 11.30am. There will be £50 cash prizes for the best entries by children's and adults' groups. The Craft Fayre opens at 12.30 in the Village Hall, and entry is free. This year's vendors include local artist Alan Ward with his watercolours of steam trains, ships, wildlife and local subjects, as well as stalls with vintage embroidery, photographs, jewellery, cards, fabric crafts, and leatherware. Stalls on the Rec open at 1pm with a wide selection of food, crafts, plants, displays, and bric-a-brac. Do come hungry because this year's food stalls will offer something for everyone: in addition to the usual burgers and hotdogs, there will be pancakes, pasties, cakes, and even a fresh stir fry while you wait. But save room for one of those famous WI cream teas, served in the Scout Hut throughout the afternoon. Stop by Revel headquarters to buy programmes and raffle tickets and be tempted by the dozens of raffle prizes. Here you can also pick up an entry form for this year's Revel Photography Competition and view the winning photographs from last year. Check out the classic cars -- if you have a classic or interesting vehicle, bring it to the Rec between 9 and 11 am on the day and someone on the Revel Committee will tell you where to go. Also try your luck on the games and take a whirl on the rides at the fun fair, which also runs from 1.00pm until 5.00pm. Events in the main arena begin at 1.00pm. The main attraction, a hilarious clown act called "Tomfoolery with Tom and Tilly Turnip", will appear in two performances featuring Charlie, the world's only almost flying Reliant Robin. The arena will also host the Harley-Davidsons, who return by popular demand, and the usual assortment of contests to test the children's speed and agility. The Revel programme contains the schedule of events, as well as the entry form for the £50 prize draw. So let the sun shine! Enjoy a day of free entertainment, and remember that your support of Revel activities -- the stalls, the programs, and the raffle -- provides funding for many village groups, facilities, and activities.
Village Directory: Call for Entries The Pucklechurch News team has agreed to assemble a new village directory for 2006, and the Parish Council has granted funding to cover printing costs. The directory will provide basic information on all village organisations, but there will also be a yellow pages section for listings of any type of product or service. Do you offer gardening services? Do a spot of babysitting? Do you sell famous plastic storage containers from your home? Are you an artist or craftsperson who could do with more local business? Are you a dog walker? Do you run classes of any kind in the local area? Any type of local business or service that might be of interest to Pucklechurch residents would be welcome to submit a FREE listing, as long as your business address is within Pucklechurch, Shortwood, Abson, Hinton, Dyrham, or Syston. Listings will also be placed on the Pucklechurch Community website. Please note that we are not accepting paid advertisements for the directory. All listings will be vetted for location and appropriateness. Use the on-line form (found here...) by July 30th, 2006. Village organisations should also include a short description (25 words or less) of who can join, plus where and when you meet.
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