Not the weakest link

Valley postman Barry Read was not the weakest link when he appeared on the tv quiz show of that name last week. He got through to the last six where, viewers agree, he was stitched up and voted off - despite scoring higher than another contestant.

Barry, who lives in Bishop Sutton and delivers post in the Pensford and Stanton Drew area, says he was disappointed not to meet Anne Robinson personally, but he found the day out very entertaining. The filming took about two and a half hours, with breaks for Anne Robinson to go off and 'be pampered'. Barry said she was fairly rude to everyone during the question sessions, including him, but that most of this was edited out of the programme which was screened. Barry is a keen quizzer and a member of the Red Lion quiz team, Bishop Sutton.

Ring of bells for Ring o'Bells

The marriage took place between Jonathan Jenssen and Kirsty Pavey (whose parents live in Bishop Sutton) on Saturday 24th January at St Margaret's Church, Hinton Blewett.

The bride who wore an ivory dress by Solitaire of Midsomer Norton, was given away by her father. In attendance were Emma Tatham and Lisa Blissett, and the best man was Richard Rees-Jones. Hooch, the couple's dog wore a co-ordinating bow to match the bridemaids. A dark green vintage Lagonda transported the couple to their reception held courtesy of Kelston Sparkes at Curls Farm, Stanton Drew. The catering was provided by the bride's godfather, Brian Street, who is MD of Colleys Supper Rooms Group. Having honeymooned in Grenada and St Lucia, the couple will return to their home at the Ring O'Bells in Hinton Blewett. Photo by Dave Sherborne

Churchill School opens new arts centre
Churchill Community School celebrated the official opening of their new Performing Arts Centre on January 14. The Centre, which includes a Dance Studio, Recording Studio and Drama Studio along with new Art Rooms, has come about due to the School's successful bid last year to become a Specialist Status School for the Performing Arts.

The School has an excellent reputation for the Performing Arts, especially Music, and the new Studios will strengthen this reputation in other areas such as Dance and Drama. Dr Barry Wratten, Headteacher said: "The Official Opening of this Centre has brought to fruition many years of planning and is made possible through considerable support from the local community. These facilities provide a wonderful opportunity for the School to build on its superb reputation for the Performing Arts."

As well as use by the School the facilities are available to the local community. Winscombe Youth Theatre has a long association with the School and their Principal, Theresa Hemming, is excited at the prospect of using the new Drama Studio. "The School's specialist status has already made a big difference to our Youth Theatre and the new studio will provide a wonderful environment for students to train and develop" she said.

Likewise, Churchill Ballet School will be using the new Dance Studio, which is the first of its kind in the area. Helen Hobson, who is currently appearing at the Bristol Old Vic in Cinderella, kindly agreed to open the Centre. Helen was originally born in Bradford on Avon but grew up in Sandford and went to Churchill before spending three years training at Mountview Theatre School in North London. Her West End debut was in Tim Rice's musical Chess at the Prince Edward Theatre. She has also played Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers, Grizabella in Cats, Rose in Aspects of Love and toured as Eliza in My Fair Lady. In 1996 she appeared opposite Cliff Richard in Heathcliff and in the same year she starred with Michael Ball in Passion. Other theatre work includes, Stepping Out and The Lady in the Van at West Yorkshire Playhouse and Educating Rita. Recently Helen has concentrated on television roles appearing in Down to Earth, Where the Heart Is, Doctors, Judge John Deed, Rosemary and Thyme and most recently, Eastenders.

Helen said: "It is especially thrilling for me, as a professional actress to be invited back to my old school to open this wonderful new Performing Arts Centre. It's great to see, in the building of this new Centre, the enthusiasm and commitment of the School to the Performing Arts, for the benefit of the whole community but in particular for the development of young people and I am proud to be associated with it."

Plans for Radfords site to be unveiled
The Plans for residential and business developments at the Radfords site in Chew Stoke are due to be made public. This is the only site in the Chew Valley which is allocated for major development in the next decade.

An exhibition 'for public comment' is being presented by Westbury Homes on February 5 from 3pm to 5pm and February 6 from 9am to 5pm, at Chew Stoke Village Hall, Pilgrim's Way. The 3 hectare (7.4 acre) site of the former Radford Retail Systems factory on the edge of Chew Stoke was earmarked in the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan as the only major site in the valley for major development between now and 2011. Paragraph V8 (re villages) notes the allocation of the site for a 'comprehensive mixed use scheme including about 30 dwellings, and workshops for business use. Its redevelopment for mixed uses, which should include substantial employment provision to ensure that the local economic benefits of the site are maintained, is acceptable subject to the provisions of the policy GB3 and other relevant policies. It is allocated for development under policy GDS.1.'

This means B&NES's approval of whatever is applied for is more or less a formality, as long as the plans comply with all the other relevant policies in the Local Plan. Westbury are proposing 31 houses (a mixture of 2, 3, 4 and 5 bedroomed) for sale on the open market, which may mean there is no provision for social housing. Westbury say they are also proposing 'a small number of office style units.'

This public 'consultation' exhibition follows extensive private consultations between Westbury Homes, B&NES and various parties interested in acquiring options to develop or rent part of the site. Neither B&NES nor Westbury has been very forthcoming in explaining the content of these negotiations, but one point of issue is said to have been the quantity and type of affordable housing provided in the plans.

Regarding possible business users, of particular interest to the wider community has been the assumption that the GP practice and surgery at Chew Magna would succeed in its intention, publicly stated three years ago, to relocate to the site. Dr Tim Sephton told the Gazette: 'Negotiations with Westbury are still at an early stage, but we see ourselves as an important community facility as well as a significant employer. We are very interested in the site, as we believe there would be big advantages to the community from the improved access this would give us. We would like a two storey building totalling about 800 square metres of floor space, and about an acre for parking and future expansion. We have approached an architect who has been working on some very exciting plans for us, and we hope that these could allow us to deliver additional alternative health facilities, such as rooms for osteopaths, homeopaths and other allied professional practitioners.

'We would also plan to accommodate visiting specialists, expand the role of the dispensary, and are looking at the possibility of a small retail outlet for the dispensary. We would like to stay in Chew Magna, but we feel that as a surgery we have outgrown present site, and we are very aware of the contribution our present location makes to the ongoing traffic congestion in the village centre.'

Compton Martin Players' 'Audition'
The Compton Martin Players and The Travelling Players have organised two special commemorative evenings to be held on Friday March 12 and Saturday March 13 at Compton Martin Village Hall in memory of Mike Stobie, who until his death, was a long-time member of both Drama Groups.

Both evenings will begin with a Commemorative Celebratory Supper and will then be followed by an award-winning one-act play, "The Audition". The play will be performed by a cast and company drawn from both The Compton Martin Players and The Travelling Players, in Mike's honour. "The Audition" was written by local playwright and Travelling Player, Richard (Dick) Macaulay and the play won the "Geoffrey Whitworth Trophy" in 2003, an award given annually for the best original script in the UK. Dick has been involved with the Players for many years and has directed a large number of their plays since 1989 including "Tom Jones" and "An Inspector Calls".

This evening is very different to past productions as it has been organised especially for the friends and family of Mike Stobie with all proceeds from the evenings being donated to St Peter's Hospice. Tickets available from Brett Halling-Brown.

Niki Martini

Harptree historians learn about coal canal
Last summer, members of the Harptree History Society walked a short stretch of, what was a hundred years ago, the Somerset Coal Canal. This canal linked Paulton with the Kennet and Avon Canal at the Dundas Aqueduct near Limpley Stoke.

It was built to transport coal from the North Somerset coalfields and operated throughout the whole of the nineteenth century until it was finally superseded by the railways. Traces of both the canal and the railway line are still clearly visible and the History Society walkers were curious to find out more about this once thriving thoroughfare. Accordingly, they have as their guest speaker on Wednesday, 25th February, Mike Chapman who is a member of the Coal Canal Society.

He will describe with the help of slides; the route of the canal, the problems overcome in its construction and the importance of the canal to the surrounding area. Almost all of Somerset's industrial past has been obliterated from view by modern development or by Nature rapidly covering the scars. But the archaeological evidence is clear when you know where to look. If you are curious about our past, or maybe you like to walk and explore the countryside, then this talk will be of interest to you.

The Harptree History Society are a very friendly group who welcome new members and visitors. The Society meet on the last Wednesday of most months at 7.30pm in West Harptree Village Hall. Their entry fees, which include refreshments, are £1 to members and £2 to non members.