Fun run around Blagdon Lake

Eighty-one runners and walkers braved wind and rain to take part in the annual Blagdon Fun Run on Saturday March 14. The three mile route took competitors along the southern shore of Blagdon Lake and was organised by Blagdon Primary School PTA, with the help of Bristol Water. Refreshments were organised by the PTA and the event raised £337 for the school.

A37 roadworks postponed

The long awaited A37 roadworks between Whitchurch and Pensford Hill were postponed until further notice by Bath and North East Somerset Council the day before the works had been advertised to start. The delay was caused because of a Victorian water main going through Whitchurch Village. £275,000 worth of improvements were planned for the carriageway, but a condition was given by the contractors in respect to the water main which would have doubled the length of time of the works and total closure of the road, resulting in disproportionate increases in costs and added disruption to residents and businesses. Ward councillor for the area Peter Edwards, (Conservative, Publow and Whitchurch) said: "It is very disappointing that these works are not going ahead as planned. Residents and businesses had made arrangements to fit around these works and now they are redundant given the delay."

Mural improves the view from Felton School
Children from years 5 and 6 at St Katharine's Primary School in Felton have been hard at work recently creating a three-board mural on the theme of 'Land, Sea and Air'. The project was the brainchild of Denise Hill, teacher of Class 4, who was fed up with looking at the dull, brown fence outside her classroom and set to work thinking how the school's immediate environment could be improved. Artwork for the project has been gradually collected since September (research included visiting the Airport to sketch planes for the 'Air' board). From the subsequent drawings, the children then chose individual elements which they would like included in the mural. Artist in residence Su Briggs spent a week in the school, making compilations of the chosen drawings.

She did pencil outlines on the three boards, each 10 ft by 4 ft, reproducing as closely as possible the original drawings and then oversaw the children filling them in. Denise said: "This has been a democratic process from start to finish. Children took ownership of the project from its inception to its conclusion, right down to choosing the colours used (there has been a fair bit of artistic licence!) and it has been incorporated right across the curriculum.

"For example, in literacy they have kept diaries and written newspaper reports. The finished mural will also be a wonderful legacy for the present Year 6 to leave behind when they move on in July."

Su attended art college for six years and is also a qualified teacher. She has spent the last four years in schools as artist in residence working with children on murals and large wire projects and said: "I have thoroughly enjoyed working with such creative children. Their ideas have been superb and I have transferred their designs as closely as possible onto the finished mural."

Two of the children who had worked on the murals were Stephanie from year 5 and Alex from year 6. They had both had a great time working on the project. "I liked the planning and painting best" said Alex "and my favourite out of the three boards is the 'Sea' with all the hustle and bustle of life underwater". Several pieces of Stephanie's artwork have been incorporated including an owl, shells and coral. Her favourite was also the 'Sea' board and the best bit for her about the project had been "seeing it build up and develop". The school would like to thank Bristol Airport and R A Gardiner of Felton for their generous sponsorship of the 'Air' and 'Land' boards.

by Anne Collier.

Fair trade in the Chew Valley

Lots of people accepted the invitation of Renee Bolton to sample the delicious fairly traded food products at her home in Blagon on March 13. With her willing helpers she served several different varieties of cereals, juices, toast with butter and jams, teas and biscuits, to the accompaniment of the mouth watering smell of percolating coffees wafting through the house. It was Fairtrade Fortnight, and its tenth birthday, and the breakfast was part of a campaign to raise the awareness of the public to the fact that there is a way they personally can help the small producers of the world's food get a fair deal for their products.

Debbie Forge of Valley Fair Trade Ltd was also on hand to show visitors how they can buy these goods in the Chew Valley and thus help build communities with hope for the future, to overcome the unfairness of world trade rules as they are at present.

She runs a monthly home delivery box scheme which is very simple to make part of your normal shopping routine, ring 01275 472391 or email valleyfairtrade@aol.com to find out how. One of the original founding partners of Fairtrade, ten years ago was the National Federation of Womens Institutes, so Blagdon WI made two birthday cakes for the Breakfast, using cocoa, sugar and chocolate awarded the Fairtrade Mark of course. They also had a big display at their March monthly meeting of the produce carrying the Fairtrade Mark which is available to buy through the Box Scheme.

Gardens open

Many of the gardens that open under the National Garden Scheme (www.ngs.org.uk) are privately owned and open to the public just a few times each year. Last year's scheme raised over £1.8m for a range of worthwhile causes. Look out for the yellow book for a full listing. Pictured: Harptree Court, East Harptree.

Local Open Gardens Include: April Sunday 4th Coley Court and Widcombe Lodge, East Harptree 2 acres plus walled garden. 2-5pm. Combined admission £2. Sunday 18th Glencot House, Wookey Hole 18 acres of parkland inc. 4 acres formal gardens. 2-5pm. Admission £2, children 50p. Teas. Sunday 25th Bourne House, Burrington 2-6pm. Admission £2. Teas. May Sunday 23rd Holt Farm, Blagdon 3 acres. 2-6pm. Admission £2. Teas. (pictured right) Sunday 30th Harptree Court, East Harptree 2-6pm. Admission £2. June Sunday 6th Barrow Court, Barrow Gurney 2-6pm. Admission £2. child 50p. Sherborne Garden, Litton 4.5 acres. 11am - 6pm. Teas Admission £2.50.

Update those website links
Letter to the editor:
Congratulations on your new website - it's a bit, er, minimalist, but we can see why, and it works. Why do you leave out your best news articles and news features? [Sorry - UK readers can always subscribe to the paper, maybe you could get someone to send you a copy]. The links page is the best collection of links to local websites we've found. So it seems a bit ironic that we discovered so many links on other people's websites which purport to link to the Gazette website but which actually link to another site which has none of the characteristic Gazette content qualities. Apparently these are old links, recycled after Gazette changed its website address a couple of years ago - did you tell anyone? Anyway, your readers should check their old bookmarks and re-make them to www.chewvalleygazette.co.uk
Impressed ex-pat, New York

[This should encourage readers to point out how many of the links on our links page are out of date, and how many others should be there and aren't - thanks in advance!]