NEWS ROUND

WELLESBOURNE IN BLOOM

Yippee! After over 3 years hard work by a dedicated group of people including the Wildlife Trust, the Parochial Church Council and Wellesbourne in Bloom we have been awarded £48,737.28 for the “St Peter's Church Wildlife Project”. We have had letters of support from many groups in the community. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust will be the Project Managers on Wellesbourne in Bloom's behalf, Michael Twite of Michael Twite Landscapes Ltd has agreed to be our Lead Professional, and Councillor Tony Copeland was our Referee.

Special mention must go to Amanda and Julie of the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust who have worked tirelessly sorting out all the logistics etc. The same thanks go to Alice Macdonald of the Parochial Church Council who has worked with us sorting out all the necessary paperwork. My first e-mail to the Wildlife Trust was in 2007; the first survey of the church yard was in May 2007. So it shows it pays to be patient. We have been invited to give a presentation of the project at the annual conference of the “Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull Local Bio Diversity Action Plan” to be held at Bishops Itchington later this month with the theme being “Warwickshire's Grasslands”.

We will have displays of the proposed project on show on the 21st July at our “Heart of England in Bloom” judging “Open Morning” in the village hall from 9.30am- 12 noon. Please feel free to come and have a coffee, cake and peruse the plans for the project and see all the other projects we have completed this year. There will be mini displays with some of our working partners.

It has been an extremely busy month; we have had to clear the library of plants due to the new children's centre being constructed. All the shrubs and plants have gone to fill two beds at the school, as well as planting 100's of daffodils around the new extension. Dave Roche Lettings Secretary of the Allotment Association and his wife have planted bulbs along the foot path by the allotments. The rest are being stored for the Autumn to be replanted. We found 3 gooseberry bushes at the library but no babies underneath. Our planter and the Lions bench are to be stored safely whilst the work is being done. Bob the Site Supervisor has also donated materials from the Library for another project in the village.

All the winter bedding has been removed and the summer bedding has been planted by the girls who work so hard. It is now all go to get ready for inspection on the 21st July for our judging day.

Heather Sims, Chairman, Wellesbourne in Bloom

Crime is definitely not popular: I know that I have mentioned it before, but once again figures show that crime is down for our region and Wellesbourne in particular, thanks to the police in general and our own local force in particular. The local notice boards will tell you who they are and include one or two new faces: a good strong team. HOWEVER... our help is still needed to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, by that I mean strangers going round to the back of your neighbour's house, climbing over the fence, or loitering around the front door etc. The summer days mean more time in the garden and do we always lock the front door and the back gate? It is a fact that a popular time for summer crime is mid-afternoon by an opportunist. Would you know at once who to ring if you did spot something? A recent incident went unreported because by the time the observer had hunted through the phone book for the right number the suspect had disappeared! So if you would like to make a note of these numbers NOW and leave them by your phone, should the unlikely happen you will be quick off the mark: Wellesbourne Police (not manned 24*7) 842114, Stratford police 414111 and, of course, 999 if it's serious.

When it is a question of security did you know that Stratford Police have a number of security products, yours for a small donation (or free if you think that you are particularly vulnerable, say through old age or living alone). To give you some idea, they have such things as door chains, door viewers, letter box guards, security bolts and many more. If you would like a list, please contact your co-ordinator (or myself). So have a lovely July, watch out for those unsavoury strangers, let your neighbour know if you are going to be away and help keep the crime figures low. Thanks.

Frankie Stuart, Chairman, Neighbourhood Watch 841819

Photographic Exhibition Brings the Village Together

Photo Competition Results

How 'well' do you know Wellesbourne? From the number of entries, not very well would be the answer. But I suspect that there was so much to see at the Exhibition, it was difficult to stand and try to identify the 14 pictures.

We'll publish more details later, but the winners of the Competition with 18 points out of a possible 20 were Paul and Jane Gibson (a joint effort) and the runner-up was Roy Garbett.

Thank you to all those who entered. I hope that it has proved to all walkers that they must keep their eyes open at all times.

Ken Pavey

Members of Wellesbourne Women's Institute spent a busy Saturday in May serving refreshments in the Village Hall for visitors to the history Society's photographic exhibition.

They were busy again at the Wellesbourne Street Fayre when they had a very attractive stall offering a competition and raffle. Sunny weather and crowds of people are always useful at village events and the WI stall profited from both of these and was very successful.

The title of the June meeting was “Buttons” which seemed simple enough but in fact was a complicated and fascinating subject. The speaker, Yvonne Brown, who was the first African-Caribbean child to go to school in Leamington Spa, was interested in fashion design but trained and worked as a nurse and midwife. After marrying and having a family she returned to her initial interest, concentrating on buttons which, over the centuries, have been symbols of decoration and the display of wealth. Yvonne discovered that buttons were made from all materials, from gold through ceramics down to cloth, and started collecting them. Her collection now runs into thousands and she passed round cards covered with hundreds of beautiful and valuable examples from the 15^th Century to the 20^th Century. Her knowledge and enthusiasm made this a most interesting and enjoyable evening

The Local History group of the Wellesbourne Village Society joined forces with Dene Valley U3A and the District Council to hold an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia on the theme of ‘Wellesbourne trades - 1940's to 1960's’.

The event was held in the Village Hall on Saturday 22 May, on a wonderfully sunny spring day, and attracted almost 250 visitors of varied ages, many of them local but some venturing out from Stratford town, Alcester and Kineton too.

The exhibition included fascinating displays of old Wellesbourne shops and trades, local history of the horse, Chedham's Yard, Churches Together, Kineton past and present, Wellesbourne Airfield and Warwickshire Reminiscence Action Project (WRAP). Visitors marvelled at some of the old scenes and many reminisced about times past and discussed what their lives had been like during this period. There was also an opportunity for people to try their hand at brass rubbing to create a replica image of a brass that originated in St Peter's Church in Wellesbourne.

The icing on the cake, literally (!), was the fabulous array of cakes and pastries produced by the local WI that were available to visitors throughout the day. Thanks go to everyone who worked so hard to make the day such a success.

It is hoped that from this event further exhibitions and an intergenerational oral history project, on a similar theme, may emerge and local people are already coming forward to be involved! If you, too, would like to share your photos, artefacts, or personal memories relating to shops and trades, or general life, of this period in the Dene Valley, then please contact

Jan Roberts, Stratford-on-Avon D Cl
Telephone: 01789 260108