Chew Valley Arts Trail

Thousands of visitors took the first Chew Valley Arts Trail when local artists and craftspeople opened their doors and invited the public in to appreciate their talents. It proved so popular that eighteen homes, outbuildings, halls and studios will once again be offering up a wide range of creativity for an Arts Trail that has been funded and organised entirely by those taking part.

Joint Co-ordinator Sandy Bell says: "It should be possible for people to visit all the venues in a single day and enjoy a wide variety of work including painting and illustration, printmaking, decorative glass, sculpture, pressed flowers, jewellery, photography, wood and textile work. Even visitors taking a small part of the Trail will be offered lots of variety. We¹re proud of the accomplished artists we have in the Valley and this was backed up by the obvious enthusiasm shown by the large numbers of people who took the Trail last year. The feedback was extremely encouraging and a great confidence booster for all the amateur and young artists who joined in with the more well known and experienced to put the event together," she added.

The artists hope the weekend will not only generate interest in local art from visitors, but will also continue to promote working links and friendships between the village communities and encourage more people to consider involvement in creative arts, whether or not they've had previous experience. The trail provides an opportunity for artists to advertise their work at a reasonable collective cost through brochures, signs, posters and leaflets. Brochures (designed by James Brisco) containing the trail map are widely available in public places throughout the Valley and beyond.

The Chew Valley Arts Trail will be held on Saturday October 16 and Sunday October 17 from 10am to 6pm. Tea and coffee will be available at some venues as indicated in the brochure.

Giddy up there!

Folks couldn't believe their eyes - but it was all there in black and white. Keeping pace with a young lady on the other side of the wall was the climbing horse, one of the many visitors to the Blagdon Country Fayre on Bank Holiday Monday in August. And it got to the top too! More about the Fayre is on page 41. Judith Tranter

Dundry St Giles fun fair

Dundry held its annual St Giles Fair on Saturday September 11. The afternoon kicked off with a children's fancy dress competition in St Michael's Church, with all the entrants catching a ride on board the 'carriage' which took the St Giles Fair Queen, Katie Delaney, and her attendants, Zoe Milton and April Smith, to the village hall for the official opening ceremony.

Business was brisk at the hall with customers enjoying home-made cakes and crafts, home-grown fruit, flowers and vegetables, skittles, splat-the-rat and lots more. Over £650 was raised for church funds and the committee would like to thank all those who supported the event, with particular thanks going to the volunteers who gave up their time to help with the organisation and running of the fair. Also to Rev Eunice Hicks for declaring the fair open, and to Special Police Constable District Officer David Farrell who judged the fancy dress competition.

Chew Magna women visit African AIDS project
Two trustees of a local charity, Ann Shah and Ann Clifford, visited Bolgotanga in the upper east region of Ghana in August to find out more about a project in the area, working with HIV/AIDS home based care and to see how the Atiamah Charitable Trust could help.

It was at an orphanage that they met Martin. He is typical of the many thousands of children living in orphanages in Ghana, many of whom have lost both parents through AIDS. Funding is desperately short and many children cannot even be cared for in the orphanages so some end up living in horrendous conditions on the streets.

On an outreach visit Ann and Ann accompanied a very sick, young lady to hospital and were able to witness first hand how funding can help. The lady had no money and the charity was able to pay for a re-hydration drip, Immodium (for diarrhoea), even her own toilet rolls! Matilda, the head nurse of the project, said that with good nutrition and medication this patient could expect to become much stronger and greatly improve her quality of life.

The first priority of the project is to provide basic drugs and dressings that many people in Ghana cannot afford. A very positive aspect of the project is the Yine Panga (God's Power) Association, people living with HIV/AIDS being involved in support, education and counselling. The president of the Association, a young mother diagnosed HIV positive 10 years ago, described with great enthusiasm the work the members do in social and family support and education. Ann and Ann found the whole experience totally amazing and are now fully committed to raising as much money as possible.

Although the first priority is for basic drugs and dressings etc, there are plans to fund training and provide bicycles and a mobile service van to enable outreach work to continue in remote areas of the region. You can help to make a real difference to the children and adults affected by this terrible disease. Atiamah Trust would welcome volunteers to help with fundraising or to organise events. If anyone would like to make a donation please make cheques payable to Atiamah Trust and send to John Sewart, Little Barn House, Chew Magna.

Fire hits Winford businesses
A number of businesses have been badly hit by the fire at Upper Littleton Business Park on September 23 which was finally put out by six fire engines and 35 fire fighters. The fire brigade was on the scene putting out the fire and damping down for over 32 hours - from 4am on the morning of the fire to midday the following day.

The cause of the fire has not so far been established. CLC Construction, a company based in Southampton whose unit was devastated by the fire, have had to relocate their offfice temporarily to Bishop Sutton. Blue Sky Networking, based in Chew Stoke, lost a large amount of technical equipment, and Poly Deck Ltd were also badly affected by telecommunications lines being melted in the heat. Their water supply was also disrupted. Several of the other businesses at the business park were unable to use their telephone or fax lines after the fire, and were still trying to get them working again early this week

Chew Magna Old School Room gets modern
After many months of negotiation and planning and after six weeks of intensive building works the Lower Hall of the Old School Room enters yet one more phase in its long and chequered journey from the 16th Century.

A £50,000 project, generously supported by a 50 per cent grant from the Millennium Commission, has refurbished the Hall to a standard in keeping with the Upper Hall and its neighbouring Millennium Hall. Also included in the project, the entire heating system of the Old School Room has been replaced and upgraded.

This now completes the enhancement of the three Halls, providing a facility of which the village can be justly proud and a prestigious venue for everything from a small meeting to the most sophisticated wedding reception. As a coincidence, 2004 marks the 10th anniversary of the Lottery from which the funds are made available to the Millennium Commission. Chew Magna has benefited from those funds on two occasions; firstly £70,000 for the Millennium Hall and secondly £25,000 for the current project. November 6th is the actual birthday and is designated Millennium Day.

In support of this and in acknowledgment of the support it has received, the Old School Room will be holding a Millennium Day Table Sale on that day. With the refurbished Lower Hall many more tables can be accommodated, making a visit even more interesting and rewarding, and residents and their friends can see for themselves how much the support of the Millennium Commission has meant to Chew Magna. If you want to be part of the occasion, ring (01275) 333382 to book a table, or come along on the day at 10 o'clock. To book any of the Halls for your own events, the number to ring is (01275) 332938.