Chew Magna takes village of year title

Chew Magna is an Older People category winner in the prestigious Calor Village of the Year competition. The results of this year's competition were announced by farmer-chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, famous for his Channel 4 River Cottage Series, at an awards luncheon held on December 7 in London.

The competition assesses communities on six aspects of village life with categories in community life, business, young people, older people, the environment and, judged separately, information communication technology (ICT). Chew Magna won the Older People category in the South West and Western England region of the competition, competing against villages from Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset and Worcestershire.

Chew Magna was presented with a framed certificate and £500 prize money by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Calor's managing director, Howard Kerr. The competition judges look for well-balanced, pro-active caring communities which, irrespective of size, have made the best of local opportunities to maintain and enhance the quality of life for all residents. Chew Magna, which was nominated to take part in the competition by the Avonside branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, was judged to cater particularly well for its older residents.

A great deal of support is given to the village's more vulnerable elderly residents and efforts are constantly being made to make sure no one ever feels forgotten. Judges appreciated these efforts and those of the Monday Club, which provides an opportunity for elderly residents to get together for lunch and entertainment. The local churches also hold regular events and one church has visitors who pay particular attention to the most vulnerable senior citizens. A large number of retired people live in Chew Magna and they dedicate a lot of their time and energy to making the village the vibrant, interesting and caring place it is.

Judges commented: "Older residents in Chew Magna are actively involved in village life and community efforts. There are also many, many regular activities on offer specifically catering for elderly villagers which is positive to see." Calor, suppliers of liquefied petroleum gas to those living and working in the countryside, has supported rural activities in England and Wales for 18 years through its Rural Sponsorship programme.

St Peter's Hospice sets up local group

The setting up of a new Chew Valley Fundraising Team in aid of St Peter's Hospice in Bristol was proposed last month at a 'mulled wine and mince pie evening' held at the home of Mr and Mrs Robert Webb in Chew Magna. St Peter's is the designated adult hospice for most of the Chew Valley area, and people from around the valley who were interested in learning more about this new fundraising initiative came along to hear the hospice's Medical Director, Dr Carol Dacombe, explain the work done by St Peter's.

Dr Dacombe said: "All our work is about helping individuals with terminal illnesses to live as well as possible for as long as possible. The money raised will go towards the patient care provided by our nursing services, either in patients' own homes or at the hospice, and to the support we give to partners and children." She continued: "Our care is available to everyone. I have come out to the lovely part of the world that is the Chew Valley and have met patients with wonderfully supportive families and friends. However, not all our patients are as fortunate and cancer is no respecter of age, sex or background.

"Support groups like the one we are hoping to set up here in the valley are often driven by people who have personally come into contact with the hospice and have seen at first hand the service it provides for people at the most difficult time in their lives. I can quote figures and statistics to encourage people to support the hospice but personally driven enthusiasm is the most powerful message there is to persuade people to become involved."

St Peter's has two sites, one at Brentry and one at Knowle, and of the £4 million pounds needed annually to run the two centres, only 18 per cent comes from the Government.

The remaining £3,280,000 needs to come from fundraising. It was decided to hold the first meeting of the Chew Valley Fundraising Team on Tuesday February 1, again at the home of Mrs Sue Webb, Highfield House, Chew Magna, with a view to holding an event next summer. Anyone interested in coming along, or who would like to become involved but who cannot attend the meeting, is asked to contact Ann Gwilliam at St Peter's Hospice on 0117 915 9328.

Words and photo by Anne Collier

Outstanding young cabaret performers

Simon Cowell and Sharon Osborne from X-Factor should have been at Chew Valley School on November 30 because there was real talent performing in the Autumn Cabaret. The event began with a rumble of drums from the African Drumming team who woke us all up on the dark autumnal evening ready for the performances to follow.

With lots of baa boms and an outstanding solo act sung by Rhian Harris we were led to the softly sung, "What can I do?" (The Corrs) by the Gospel Pops Choir, who also later sang "O Happy Day" in a lively joyous style. This school specialises in all aspects of performing arts, including dance. There were two dance acts, one was particularly dramatic, "The Swan Song", which could have been interpreted as a performance about bullying.

The second saw the Chew Valley Dance Company provide an exuberant routine to Britney Spears "Me Against The Music". The jazz band were great with solo performances by James Matthews in "Bear Cave Blues" and Josh Reynolds in "Blue Panther". Jenny Ajderian and Hannah Wood acted out a Monty Python sketch called "The Argument", which was hilarious. The evening was brought to a dramatic conclusion with an outstanding finale number called "Joyful, Joyful" with soloist Gabi Nash, which had the audience cheering to the rafters.

Kimberley Collins

Happy birthday to us
2005 will be a historic year for the Chew Valley Gazette, as the April issue will be the 21st anniversary of the first issue of its predecessor publication, the Chew Valley Digest. The first issue of the Digest was published in April 1984 and the last issue was printed in January 1989, to be replaced by the Gazette, which published its first issue in February 1989.

We are planning a special issue in April 2005, and are keen to hear from any readers or past contributors, advertisers or distributors who might have interesting recollections to share with our readers. We are also keen to establish an archive of the Digest and the Gazette in at least one local reference library - either Bristol or Bath, preferably both.

Such an archive would be a useful resource for future historians. As an article in preparation will show, coverage of the Chew Valley area in the long history of Somerset newspapers has always been patchy, and this was one of the reasons that readers took to the Digest, despite its imperfections. If anyone has extensive runs of either paper they would be prepared to make available for such a library archive, could they let us know at the Gazette (contact number and address are on page 2).

Mendip turns down wind turbine plan
Mendip District Council has finally turned down the bid to build a 100 metre wind turbine near Chewton Mendip. At a specially convened meeting on December 9, the council's planning board unanimously rejected Ecotricity's application to build a wind turbine at Chewton Mendip.

Only two people spoke in favour of the application, and Ecotricity itself did not make any representation to the council's meeting, possibly in the belief that the council's decision was effectively already made. Mendip's planning officer had recommended refusal of the plan, and damning comments had been made by other officers (notably the council's archaeologist) in the report to the committee.

However, Ecotricity have indicated that although they are disappointed by the decision, they are still committed to wind energy at that site at Shooters Bottom, and are reviewing their options. A spokesman for the company was unable to say whether or not this meant they were considering an appeal against the decision.

Christopher Booker, Chairman of CHART, (Chewton Aginst Rural Turbines) commented: "We are naturally delighted that Mendip district council rejected this application with not a single vote in favour. We were grateful to our local councillors for giving us the chance to put our case to a special meeting of the planning board at Shepton Mallet on December 9. Their decision has saved the Mendip skyline from a huge steel-and-concrete intrusion which, as we showed, would have provided only an insignificant and unreliable supply of electricity to no environmental benefit.

"We were grateful to all those who supported us through a long and determined campaign, not least all those local residents who turned up on the night to pack the public gallery. Our campaign was very much a team effort and we were fortunately able to call on a wide range of professional expertise from within our local community. When Bill Mackay, councillor for Nedge, led the debate in council, he described CHART's 100-page objection statement as 'the most impressive document of its kind I have seen in my 28 years on Mendip Council'.

"Other supporters included Paul Harley, chairman of the Mendip Society; Wells MP David Heathcoat Amory; Professor David Bellamy; Christina Morgan of the Somerset CPRE; Brian Trueman and Campbell Dunford of Save The Vale, and Noel Edmonds, chairman of the Renewable Energy Foundation, the organisation recently set up to co-ordinate the nationwide fight against wind turbines."

Wrington wins ICT award
Wrington has been presented the Special Merit Award for its efforts in the ICT category of the Village of the Year competition and received a framed certificate in recognition of its success. The village was competing in the South West and Western England region of the competition against villages from Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Somerset.

The winner of the ICT category for the region was Somerset village Oake. The ICT section of the competition is judged by UKVillages.co.uk. Ellie Stoneley of UKVillages commented: "Wrington put together a superb entry which reflects the exciting and extremely informative website and the ways in which ICT is used to enhance the lives of those who live locally and as a means of tempting both holiday makers and people wishing to move there. The website was used as a part of the creation of the parish plan, there is an excellent archiving system online and you can even report a lost pet! There are courses available to train the local population in many different uses of ICT and the local cyber cafe is manned by volunteers. Wrington sets a fine example for other communities embarking on ICT by its inclusive, friendly and sustainable approach."