A fifty year-old Ferguson tractor came home to its original farm location when 54 tractors of members of the National Vintage Tractor and Engine Club group met for a rally at Winford on April 9. John Liddle acquired the tractor for restoration, and from the licence plate KYA 936 it appeared to be one of the very first Fergusons registered, from the late 1940s.

However, after a check with the chassis number, it turned out to be a 1956 tractor. He tracked its previous ownership back to George Russell, whose family farmed at Church Farm in the immediate pre and post-war years, and got in touch with the present owner Bridget Smith.

The Russells' name is commemorated in Russell Close, immediately behind Church Farm, where houses now occupy the space where the farmyard was, and where the tractor probably rested when it wasn't working in the fields. George Russell's name is also commemorated on the lectern at Winford Church, with the inscription 'churchwarden 1943 to 1953'.

Words and photo Rowland Janes

Mendip painter exhibits new work

Martin Bentham in his studio
Having not exhibited alone since 1999, local artist Martin Bentham of Blagdon is holding an exhibition of his works titled 'Recent Paintings'. from Saturday May 20 through to Monday May 29.

When Martin Bentham's name is mentioned in conversation throughout the Valley, people inevitably know of his talents as a professional artist and either have, or desire, one or more of his pieces. Martin is certainly a very gifted man, creating wonderful oil paintings and pencil drawings.

Starting as a boy, Martin has been painting for nearly 30 years, full time since 1993, and believes that painting "is mainly about exploring with colour, composition and texture." Working either on location, from life studies or working sketches to create his work, he believes that 'paint can take on a life of its own and needs to be celebrated using a range of different techniques and markings'.

Martin's exhibition, to be held at Barn House, Yew Tree Farm in Blagdon, will show about 100 paintings and 40 drawings, all of which will be for sale during the event. He is currently working hard putting the final touches to a number of studies which include an image inside Blagdon's Mendip Farm Butchers and many local landscapes.

As you will see if you attend the exhibition, each piece of work has something individual about it, not only telling the story of the picture but also exploring different uses of the paint to give real feeling and expression. Martin believes that his paintings are 'not just about painting a realistic image of a subject, such as a landscape, they are also just as much about enjoying the way that the paint is applied to create the expression in such pieces.'

The exhibition will be open daily between 10am and 5pm from the 20th to the 29th May and you'd be mad not to go along and have a look, even if it's just to see the amazing talents of this local man. For further information prior to the exhibition, contact Martin Bentham on 01761 463569. During the exhibition he can be contacted on 01761 462603.

Words and photo by Niki Martini

Pensford 10k

Runners set off on the 2006 Pensford 10k Photo by Anne Collier

This year's Pensford 10k and Fun Run took place in good conditions on April 23, and there was a record field of 323 runners, and a new women's record for the second successive year. More info & pictures are on the website www.pensford10k.com Organisers would appreciate any feedback comments to the Runners' World Feedback site link following Runners¹ World Comments

Nobody turned up for health meeting
A meeting of the Patient and Public Involvement Forum for Bath and North East Somerset was held in Bishop Sutton in March. Not one member of the public was present, and the Gazette had not been notified and so had been unable to publicise the event.

Patient and Public Involvement in Health Forums are recently established statutory bodies set up to monitor the delivery of health in your local area. According to their website this is: 'to give you the chance to have your say. The Forums will play a vital role in making sure patients¹ and the public¹s views are heard and acted on by all those involved in making decisions.'

For the Forum, Paul Howard commented: "We were given a copy of the Gazette at the Village Hall, and will be circulating press releases about Forum meetings to your paper from now on.

"The Forum is concerned about the absence of the public, particularly as Mike Bowden gave a very informative and interesting presentation on Children's Health Services in Bath and North East Somerset. The Forum would like to recruit new members from the Chew Valley area, as it has no members from there at the moment and would like to be more representative of B&NES as a whole.

"Word of mouth from a local member is a good way of encouraging the public to come to meetings and get involved in influencing local health services. All Forum members are volunteers. Amongst the things the B&NES Forum will be working on in the near future are telephone charges for patients and relatives at the Royal United Hospital, access to NHS dental services, care of the terminally ill, and Primary Care Trust reconfiguration.

"Anyone interested in those issues, or any other health related matter, would be welcome to apply to join the Forum."

To find out more, ring 0845 120 7115 or visit www.cppih.org/involved_vol_form.html People with a particular interest in the Royal United Hospital may prefer to join the Forum for that hospital. See also www.hapforums.co.uk

FirstGroup loses Explorer contract
FirstGroup will no longer be running the Chew Valley Explorer service when the new schedule comes into operation on May 28. The contract has been awarded to Eurotaxis, a private limited company which originally began as Northavon Taxis in the early eighties, and changed name is 1991.

Eurotaxis is the largest hackney taxi company in the area, with over 50 cars and 80 buses and coaches varying in size up to 88 seats. Juan and Anne Sanzo own most of the company shares and are still involved in the day to day operation of the company.

Their sons Keith and William are also directors and actively involved with the running of the company. FirstGroup's team of drivers that operated the service (including Michael Jay, the local driver whose schedule proposals were featured in the Gazette) will no longer be involved in the service. Printed timetables for the new service should be in shops and libraries etc by mid-May.

21st birthday for Chew Valley Green Pages
The leading directory for the area, Chew Valley Green Pages, will be celebrating its 21st birthday with the publication of the 2006-2007 issue in September.

The first issue was published back in 1986, establishing a perfect, inexpensive medium for small local business to raise their local profile, and help them compete with the larger city-based businesses that dominated directories such as Yellow Pages.

The initial concept and design, originated by Gazette editor Rowland Janes in collaboration with co-publisher Bill Carruthers, has changed remarkably little in 21 years, although Chew Valley Green Pages now also benefit from listings on the publication's website www.chewvalleygreenpages.co.uk.

CVGP's green credentials were established by the publication's promotion of recycling and public transport, and its attempt to promote local small scale village ventures - twenty years before GoZero was established.

The introduction to the 1986 CVGP may be even truer now than it was then: "CVGP has been designed to promote local and small businesses. Why? Fifty years ago our villages were still very self-sufficient, with their own bakers, dairies, shoemakers, blacksmiths, water, timber and fuel supplies. The allotments and gardens were fully utilised and there were plenty of backyard pigs and poultry. Commuting, where necessary, was largely by bicycle or foot. Since then, the villages have gradually changed and the process is continuing. Newcomers usually commute to Bristol or Bath for their work. This may be inevitable, but what is avoidable is the tendency to look to those cities for the weekly shopping expedition and all kinds of services that could be better obtained locally."