Chedham’s Yard
After five years of planning, work starts at Chedham’s Yard.
Residents will almost
certainly have noticed the activity going on down Church Walk. On May 3rd, the
contractors, Croft Building and Conservation Limited, finally started on a six
month programme of restoration of the site. Their first task was to lay a
temporary road to the site from the bottom of Church Walk and to create a
secure compound for the works. They have also started remedial works on the
walls to the blacksmith's shop.
The next stage will be for
Borderoak to come and erect the timber visitors’ centre at the bottom of the yard.
Although arrangements have
been made for the workmen to park away from the site, inevitably there will be
some deliveries that will have to be made right to the site. In order to keep
the inconvenience to local residents as low as possible, we ask that other
people do not park in Church Walk or Chestnut Square during working hours,
until works are complete on site.
Prior to work starting,
archaeologists from Warwickshire Archaeology came to supervise teams of
volunteers carrying out a limited hand dig of the site. This was one of the
conditions of the planning permission that a dig be carried out of all areas
that were due to be disturbed by the restoration and landscaping works. About
50 people from all over the country came and joined in the work and have
uncovered an amazing number of objects including a lot of pottery and iron items.
Gardeners may complain, but it
has been very fortunate that April was so dry and the dig has progressed rapidly.
Our photograph above shows volunteers working around the large tyring
plate, which was used to put the hot metal rims onto wooden cartwheels. On the
left you can see a drain that was revealed by the dig. This would have taken
water away from the plate to the river that used to run beside the site.
This plaque that was unearthed
during the dig is from a threshing machine that was used by the Chedham family.
Worry is the darkroom in which negatives can develop.
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Wellesbourne in Bloom
April was an extremely busy
month for the St Peter’s Church Wildlife Project. Fingers were crossed that the
weather would behave itself and that the delivery men would all make it on time
with their wares.
For two Tuesdays the part-time
students from the “Green keeping and Horticulture Course” at Moreton Morrell
College led by Greg Street their tutor worked tirelessly to create the
beautiful new path in the copse at the church centre. Clearing was the first
job: with loppers and pruners the path was cleared, the mountain of debris
loaded into the skip and the boards for the new path were laid down. Michael
Twite our Lead Professional for this project was on hand to give advice, the
Revd Kate Mier was on hand to approve of the students' efforts and we “Bloomers”
laid on a spread for the students who were understandably ravenous after all their efforts.
The sleepers arrived for the
new planter which will go in front of the art work screen by the bin sheds.
Unfortunately the area needed levelling and some sorting out so Michael stepped
in to rescue us and stored the sleepers for a week. Even better two of Michael’s
men came the next week and put the planter in place for us. Another huge job in
the project completed.
The following Tuesday the
students came back with the promise that homemade pasties, more Welsh cakes and
lemon drizzle cake would be there for lunch. Even better the sun was shining
the special membrane was laid that protects the existing tree roots and the
road stone was laid. The final job was to lay the topping of Bredon gravel.
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St Peter’s Tiddlers Pre-school
It has been a short half term
and we have been learning how to look after ourselves. We have been following
the Little Green Bear scheme and have made large green and red men to learn
when to stop and go at the pedestrian crossing. We have learned how to keep
safe in the sun and have been to visit the dentist to learn how to look after
our teeth.
If you are interested in a
place for your child in 2011/2012 please contact us as there are not many
sessions left. Call Karen on 07876 764160 or leave a message. If you would like to read our
OFSTED report online,
our number is EY423296. Parents and
children are also welcome to call into the Church Centre any weekday mornings
between 10 and 12 to watch us learn through play.
Tiddlers staff
[I wrote to Ofsted to find out why the old number 200773 didn't work any more,
and when a report might be made available;
they did not reply, but have now made the old reports available again -
Peter]
All Change
The face of the Precinct in
Wellesbourne has been changing over the past couple of years, and it has
changed once more with Ron & Julia Smedley ceasing trading at Technique last weekend after
almost 29 years, although Julia will still run her hairdressing business from
her home in Kineton Road using the same phone number.
Ron & Julia first started
in the Precinct with the purchase of the launderette, and after trading for a
short time as a launderette they converted part of it to form
Technique, the hairdressing salon. When the launderette finally
closed, the hairdressing salon was expanded to incorporate a beauty treatment section.
In between these events Ron
purchased Home Supplies and ran it with help from staff, and part time from his
two sons, Jason and Nicholas, after school and at weekends.
After operating it for 13 years he sold it to the present owners John and Margaret.
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Fortunately Michael and his men were on hand to finish the path with a whacker
plate to seal the gravel. Finally the sensory posts were put into position so
that the children could view them from both sides when using the path. One
student described them as “awesome”. I must admit they are special and it is
thanks to Julie Turner from the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and her impeccable taste.
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In two weeks we had completed
two vital parts of the project, all with a lot of help from our friends. If
that was not enough, the Probation Service as part of the “Community Pay Back
Scheme” have been painting the railings at the church and generally tidying up.
This was on top of their work at Wellesbourne Primary Schools Annex work for
the little gardeners: sorting the polytunnel, digging beds and painting fences.
The work that the Probation Service have helped us with over the past few years
has helped to transform Wellesbourne, and it would have been far out of the
reach of us few ladies who make up the “Bloomers”.
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Now we have had the artist
workshop for the children, our next goals are the installation of the art work,
installation of new church gates, wildflower planting, and the installation of
the eco bench at the rear of the church yard. If you are interested in helping
with any of these please contact us on 07515 951013: we are dab hands at
refreshments and can give plenty of recommendations.
Heather Sims, Chairman, Wellesbourne in Bloom
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