Christmas Greetings to all our readers and advertisers from the Mag team.
We are from left to right
Claire Rose (proof reader)
Margaret Argyle (co-editor)
Mandy Bacon (delivery)
Val Martin (co-editor) and Doug Bacon (delivery).
Adele Fox (treasurer) was unavailable when the photo was taken.
This is your magazine please share with us your news, comments and articles we would love to hear from you.
Inside this issue
Full colour centre pages: Christmas in Meriden
Rotary Sleigh Visit
Calling all children: Write a letter to Father Christmas
John Douglas wins Solihull in Bloom prize
News from the School, Scouts, Cubs, Beavers and Brownies
Village Appraisal update
Pond working party pictures
Village pictures
The Heart of England Way Association installed a bench and lectern on Wednesday 26th August on the grass verge alongside the St Laurence Churchyard wall.
The bench plaque inscription says "To Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Heart of England Way 1982-2007". You can find more about the Association by visiting the website www.heartofenglandway.org
The photograph shows Brian Keates - Warden Co-ordinator for the Association's Voluntary Warden Service.
The work party at Meriden duck pond 14th October. See Village Appraisal update for more details of this project
Pupils from Meriden Primary School proudly showing off the bird boxes built by their Eco Club, with the help of the Park Rangers, who fixed them to the trees surrounding the duck pond.
Mr Jennings and children from year 6 of Meriden school
‘Hike for Hunger Campaign’ see article opposite
Greetings from Meriden School
Well as I write we are half way through the first term this year, which has just flown by! We will soon be on the count down to Christmas, with all the exciting things it brings in Primary School!
We have been busy in school as always. Not a week goes by without one activity or another in school where we try to extend and enrich both the curriculum and the extra curricular activities on offer to the children. For instance last half term, two musicians came in from Solihull Music Service to put on a ‘World Music Day’, with workshops all day, then a wonderful performance which got the whole school involved. The sound of African drumming, dancing and singing filled the Hall – a fantastic experience!
We hosted a super Harvest Festival again this year with lots of donations of food that the Salvation Army collected and distributed amongst the needy in Coventry. Thank you to Rev Charlesworth for leading the Assembly.
School held its annual Open Evening at the end of last half term with lots of activities held in each classroom, the Choir sang fantastically and Year 6 pupils ‘Waking & Shaking’ entertained visitors! It was a most successful evening and showcased our wonderful school to prospective parents.
Classes have continued to visit Meriden Library each term. Parents help staff walk the children to and from the Library where they listen to stories and learn how to research and use books and computers. We thank the staff there for their constant support.
The PTA Christmas Fayre is on Friday 4th December 6-8pm, please do come along as there will be lots to do, buy and celebrate! Look out for signs around the village advertising this event.
We are all looking forward to the Christmas activities in school – our yearly visit to the Belgrade Theatre, the Infant Nativity, Carol Singing around the tree in the village, Christmas lunches and parties, Christingle Service at St Laurence’s, and the end of Year Carol Service at school to name but a few! Our Carol Service rehearsal is held on Thursday 17th December at 9.45am – to which you are cordially invited – just let school know before hand if you wish to come along – 01676 522488.
That just leaves me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Meriden School!
Regards Jacky Smith - Headteacher
Year 6 school children raise Year 6 school children raise 6 school raise 6 school raise money for charity! money for charity! charity! charity!
On the 16th of October 09 all of the pupils from year 6 Meriden C of E Primary School all completed an amazing walk around our playing field in just an hour!! Twenty three children with just one teacher! Mr Jennings our teacher (he was eighteen at the time) went to school in Zimbabwe. While he was there he helped raise money for people who had been affected by the drought in the 1990’s. There charity is called hike for hunger.
On that day it was World Food Day, our target was to raise £ 200 so far we have raised a huge amount of £ 340.60 we soon hopefully will have £400!
Our field is 204 m, which equals one lap! I did 30 laps some other members of my class done the same we had a picture taken which might be in the newspaper!! One of the class member’s Jake did an amazing FORTY SEVEN laps!!! He got a hat with the charity on it.
Lets just keep our fingers crossed that all the money that goes to the charity we have raised will help a lot of people that are less fortunate than us. If you’d like to give some money to the charity go to: www.justgiving.com/h4h-2009 or www.hike4hunger.org
By Emily Stratton
Autumn Comes Again
The shivering leaves remind me of somebody watching a horror movie. The children run around Like lunatics, and have a good time. The grass is as smooth as skin, the bark is as rough as a bumpy highway.
Feeling as excited as a small boy receiving a Christmas present, the atmosphere is as calm as a family having a family meal.
ByAndrewWadleyMeridenSchool
October2009.
Autumn
Leaves rustling on the autumn grass
Like scrunching up newspaper ready to light a bonfire.
Birds whistling like a flute
In the sun
Flies fluttering and frolicking like fairies. Billions of conkers fall to the ground Their shells are as prickly as thorns
On a rose bush.
Cars in the distance like droning bees
From afar.
The colours change from green to yellow to brown to gold, Summer has gone, Autumn has arrived.
ByRyanStorerYear5MeridenSchool
ST LAURENCE CHURCH NEWS ST LAURENCE CHURCH NEWS
Lay Reader Peter Wright 01676 522414
Church Wardens Marian Theobald Tel 01676 523 475 Linda Barnett Tel 01676 523 277 Services are held every Sunday at 10.30 am
A stationery store’s display of their ‘Christmas cards’ range had a sub-section almost at the end marked “Religious Cards.” Did this imply the latter were for an odd minority who wished to drag religion into Christmas, or was it an oversight?
On Christmas Day last year, 2008, a group of British and German soldiers met in northern France to play a game of football and erect a memorial to those who had died in The Great War. They were re-enacting Christmas Day 1914 there when, with the War only 5 months old, soldiers of both sides came out of their trenches, unarmed, into the ‘no-man’s land’ between them to greet each other and exchange gifts of cigarettes, beer and plum pudding; and they played a game of football. It had begun with the singing of “Silent Night” from the German lines followed by “Good King Wenceslas” from the British. The next day the killing resumed, but for a brief moment those soldiers knew there was something better than the darkness of killing, they knew the true meaning of life.
On the night that Jesus was born, the angel’s message of joy, of peace, of love and compassion and of light in every kind of darkness was born for everyone. The shepherds heard it first. Soldiers in the trenches heard it too. Now it is our turn.
To try to leave Jesus out of Christmas is a tragedy, not an oversight. The world needs to hear again the message of the angel. A saviour has been born for you. Don’t be afraid. Listen. Come and celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas; all church services are listed in this Mag. You are sure of warm welcome.
Peter Wright Lay Reader
“Invite a guest for Christmas”
Are you thinking about who might come for Christmas this year? Perhaps you would like to make it a bit different. Some of the adults from overseas who are currently studying at UK universities would love to spend a couple of days in a real home, rather than on a deserted campus. It is interesting to share Christmas with people for whom it is all quite new (many international students are from China, for example). HOST has been linking students with hospitable volunteers for 22 years, at Christmas and also one-off weekends throughout the year. HOST is a registered charity backed by the Foreign Office and many universities. It is not necessary for hosts to live near a university, as students are prepared to travel far for this unique experience!
See www.hostuk.org or call HOST's voluntary regional organiser, Soili Barker, on 01948 830549. Thank you! HOST UK
Raymond Chislett 1930 - 2009
It was with great sadness that we lost Ray very suddenly this summer. Born November 1930 in the Thatched Cottage on The Green, Ray lived his whole life in Meriden and often said he would never leave.
After he left school he went to work at MW services and later moved to Triumph Motorcycles. His main interests were shooting and his motorbikes.
Ray was a very quiet man, a devoted husband to Sheila and a loving father to Neil and Denise.
His cremation took place at Canley Crematorium in August. We would like to thank family and friends for their support and sympathy during this sad time.
Sheila and Family
The Stained Glass Windows of St. Laurence Church, Meriden.
Michael Dawkins the Retired Rector has compiled a book of nearly forty coloured photographs and explained the meaning of the stained glass windows in the parish church of St. Laurence, Meriden.
The Bishop of Coventry has written in the foreword:
‘This is a beautiful book about some beautiful windows in a beautiful Church. And the windows tell the most beautiful story ever known – the story of the love of God that knows no bounds. As you savour their wonderful colours, exquisite detail and majestic images, and as you muse on the profound words that accompany them, let this story of God’s immense love touch the story of your life to bring you hope and joy, truth and peace. …These glorious windows shine with the light of Christ.’
The book will make a lovely Christmas present. It is available from the Centre Charity shop on the Green in Meriden, price £7.
1st Meriden Scout Group
News from the Green Hut
Beavers: Girls and boys aged 6-8 years meet on a Monday at 6.30pm.
Contact Jo (522625) or Gaynor (523191)
Cubs: Girls and Boys aged 8-10½ meet on a Tuesday at 6.30pm. Contact Lis (521080) or Liz (523674)
Scouts: Girls and Boys aged 10½-14 meet on a Thursday at 7pm Contact Jim (523309)
All the sections have been busy preparing items for the Groups time capsule, which will be buried on Bonfire night. The children have each been asked to donate an item to go into the capsule along with scouting articles. We are hoping to leave the capsule for 50 years – hopefully the children will remember where it’s been buried!! At last the renovations to the Scout Hut are under way, with new toilets and a newly painted hall – next job the kitchen! We would like to thank all those that have given their time to making these improvements.
BEAVERS
We have been learning about looking after animals and our own pets. We have had a few visitors to the meetings including a hamster and a snake.
CUBS
We have been busy completing our fitness challenge badge and hopefully will continue to stay fit!
We shall be making bird boxes for our feathered friends to go with the bird feeders we recently made out of recycled materials.
SCOUTS
Since September we have been busy with our homemade boomerang competition. We hope to complete the project next spring by building six-foot gliders and flying them in the fields surrounding Meriden.
We have also been busy completing several badges including our ‘DIY’, ‘Mechanics’, Electronics and Creative Challenge badges and are looking forward to completing many more in the new year.
In December there is a planned trip to the Snow-dome at Tamworth where we will have fun and games tobogganing.
In the spring we will be focusing on our ‘Global Conservation’, ‘Cyclist’, ‘Model Maker’ and ‘Chef’ challenges and hope to go camping in Rugby to take part in water rafting and canoeing. Scouts with their homemade boomerangs
Please contact the Leaders if you would like to join – Go on, come and meet some new friends, learn something new and have FUN!! We also need help from any adults out there that would be willing to spare some time with any of the sections – even if it is just for the odd hour or two each month.
As another term draws to a close we have been busier than ever. To start the Girl guiding Centenary year celebrations 13 Brownies attended a day long party at the NEC along with hundreds of other Brownies from around the district. Activities included an 'It's a knockout' competition (which we won!), climbing wall, bouncy castles, belly dancing, face painting and cheerleading. The girls have completed their 'Hostess' badge and started their Disability Awareness Badge, already achieving the deaf awareness part of the badge and being able to sign their names and the Brownie promise. We are having a Brownie stall at the school Christmas fayre so please come and support us. We have a long waiting list, but if you have a daughter aged between 7-10 who would like to come and join in the fun, please contact us on the numbers below. We meet on Wednesday evenings at the Methodist Church Hall between 6.15-7.45pm.
Jane 01676 542501 Sharon 01676 522591 Lisa 01676 522131
Minister: Rev Andrew Charlesworth BSc BA
In Meriden
Tel: 01676 533737 - Phone to arrange marriages, baptisms and funerals
Services: Sunday 10:30am (Junior Church and crèche for children)
Sunday evening 5:30pm (4th Sunday in month only)
I had a Vicar of Dibley moment very recently!
You may remember the episode at Christmas where she gets invited to many different houses and ends up eating about four Christmas dinners. Well over Harvest, because I look after several churches, I found myself with multiple Harvest suppers on the same night. I arrived at my final event at about 9:30pm. This was a Barn Dance, which was in full swing by this time. But it did not stop them pausing the music and trying to give me more food to eat!
There is another Vicar of Dibley Christmas special that I always remember. It is the one where Alice, the Verger, ends up giving birth in the middle of the Village Nativity play. “Ooh it’s very realistic” one of the audience is heard to say. In that episode, Geraldine, the Vicar, produces a poster that calls the Nativity the greatest story that has ever been told. There follows much debate as to whether it really is the greatest story, with the macabre Owen proposing a somewhat gruesome alternative. Geraldine eventually wins the day, however, by pointing out that this tale is still told today, 2000 years later. We would love for you to join us for the greatest story ever told at one of the many services over Christmas. Season’s greetings, Andrew.
Diary Dates:
December 15th, Christmas Supper Club (Quiz)
January 17th 2010, Methodist Covenant Service followed by lunch at Strawberry Bank Hotel
Butchery
Zoe’s Market
• Order now for Christmas, quality meat and poultry
• Now stocking Berkswell Ewe’s milk cheese
• British Beef
• Wide selection of prize winning sausages
• Best quality English Lamb & pork
• Wide selection of bacon including dry cure English
• Deli counter with a wide selection of cheese, pies and cooked meats
• Wishing all our customers Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year
• Fresh and frozen fish Fresh and frozen fish Fresh frozen fish Fresh frozen fish
• Flowers and plants Flowers plants
• Orders now being taken Orders now being taken for for for Christmas hampers Christmas and gifts and gifts
• Call in and see us soon! Call in and see us soon! Call in us soon! Call in us soon!
Queens Head Queens Head Queens Queens
Old Road Meriden Old Road Meriden Old Old
Monday night is music night come along and join us, music starts 9.15pm approx
Nov 30th Link
Dec 7th Andy Marlow
Dec 14th Julie Christie
Dec 21st Keith Brett
Dec 28th Backbeat
January and February dates to be arranged
The Queen’s Head will close at 2.30pm on Christmas Day
New Year’s Eve Party with singer Sam Wrey
Tickets £5.50 to include nibbles
Now serving breakfast on Sunday mornings
10.00am-1.00pm Full English £5.25
Pop in for good food and good company 01676 522256 for further information
Friends in Retirement Friends in Retirement Friends in Retirement Friends in Retirement
Membership of FIRS, Balsall Common continues to rise. A number of Meriden residents have joined the various groups and we would welcome more of you.
The Art Group had a very successful Art Exhibition at Balsall Common in October
The Rambling, Ambling, Patchwork, Bridge and Art Groups continue to run successfully. In addition this month two new groups have been formed - one for Computer Awareness and one for Craft - both of which are doing well. The Social group have recently been on a trip to the Severn Valley Railway and a theatre trip to the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. In January there is to be a trip to the Belgrade Pantomime.
For information on any of the activity sections please contact Mr Malcolm Gratton - Chair – 01676 523505
The Firs Annual Lunch will take place at the Keef''s Brassierie in the Haig's Hotel, Balsall Common on Friday 12th February 2010. Details will be in the next Firs Newsletter in December.
We continue to have our monthly Coffee Morning at the Jubilee Centre, Station Road, Balsall Common (just inside the Library car park) from 10am - 12 noon. Everyone is welcome, member or non-member, so why not come in and find out what we are about over a drink and a chat.
Dates for the Coffee mornings, all on Fridays are18th December, 15th January and 19th February. Hope to see you there.
The Hampton Players
All events are held at The Fentham Hall Marsh Lane Hampton-in-Arden
‘Christmas Echoes’
An evening of festive fun & merriment with stories, sketches, poems and customs, plus ‘sing-a-long’ carols on the Compton Cinema Organ
Devised & Produced by Maureen George
Friday 18th & Saturday 19th December at 7.30pm
Tickets £6 each including festive refreshments from:
The Corner Shop, 2 High Street, H-in-A 01675 442454 or Mo George 01675 442432. or ‘on the door’ on performance nights
The Centre Charity Shop 01676 523050
Warm greetings to our friends and customers,
Firstly thank you to our staff and helpers for all the hard work they do. We continue to need black sacks, if you have any to spare we would be very grateful. Thank you to those of you who sent in vinyl records, as they seem to be making a comeback!! At the moment we are in need of good quality winter coats and boots so if you have any to donate they would be very useful.
Small furniture continues to be very popular so if you have any unwanted items please consider donating them to us. Its best to telephone first to check that we have some space available – as this varies from day to day. I can’t believe Christmas is just around the corner; this year seems to have flown past. As this publication will be the last one before Christmas we would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Don’t forget to look out to see what date Father Christmas is visiting the shop this year.
The Meriden Youth have met at the Methodist Church each Thursday evening until last week. At the moment it has come to a close because we are going to be doing an after school club which is on the same evening and we can’t be in two places at the same time!
Don’t forget to come in and have a mooch in the shop, there’s always something new to see – come and have a chat with us. We love to catch up with friends old and new. If there is any way we can be of help then please let us know and if we can, we will.
Hope to see you soon. Kevin and Lyn Hunt xx
Search me, O God. And know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting. Psalm 139 v 23 & 24).
Spend time with Spend time with Spend time with Spend time with me……… and change the way and change the way and the way and the way you think of you think of you think you think exercise……
3 Ways to help you Ways to help you Ways help you Ways help you enjoy your recreation your and improve your and improve your and improve and improve
The Charity Christmas Card Shop is in Balsall Common Library until Saturday 12th December Cards from 16 different charities on sale Monday & Thursday 10.00am until 7.00pm Tuesday & Saturday 10.00am until 5.00pm Friday 1.00pm until 5.00pm Closed Wednesdays
Over 50s in Solihull can get fit as a fiddle
People over 50 in the Solihull area are being encouraged to get fit as a fiddle by taking part in activities run by Age Concern Solihull and funded by the Big Lottery.
fit as a fiddle talked with people about the types of activities wanted and built these ideas into their programmes. These included:
■ opportunities to learn new activities
■ pick up on old ones which may have lapsed over time
■ have chances to share interests with people of similar ages
We now have a limited number of places for Extend (Gentle Exercises to popular music, tailored to meet your abilities) on Wednesdays 1.30pm – 3pm Meriden Village Hall, Meriden (Fortnightly). Last one for 2009 is December 9th
New for 2010… Table Tennis starting 7th January 1pm – 2.30pm Balsall Common Methodist Church (weekly for 6 weeks). Please call to book as places limited
For more information contact Tracy Curtis, Fit as a Fiddle Project Co-ordinator 0121 705 9128, The Priory, Church Hill Road, Solihull, B91 3LF or email tcurtis@acsolihull.org
Solihull
On behalf of the Cricket Club I would like to thank everyone who has contributed and taken part in our matches and social events during the past season. A special thanks to Barkers Butts RFC who have very kindly let us use their ground this season for our League and Cup matches, it is the first time in many years that we have been able to host these matches on a ‘home’ ground.
Despite the miserable weather, our Fun Day was very well supported and we managed to raise £636.38 for Acorns Hospices. Thanks to all who came along.
A final thank you to all our sponsors, Aguaflame UK, Bestie’s Decorating Services, Edwards Bathroom, Heating & Plumbing Suppliers, Handy Concrete Co. Ltd. Lifelift Ltd. and The Queen’s Head, and to the Heart of England Social Club for their continuing support.
To round off the year we are holding a Christmas quiz on Thursday 3rd December at the Queen’s Head. Please come along and have a fun evening out.
Mike Gallagher, Chairman 01676 521085 Meriden Cricket Club Thursday 3rd December 7.30pm at the Queens Head
Presented this year by our original Quiz Master
£1 per head (Maximum 5 persons per team) A Fun night out for everyone
For MOT, service, tyres & exhausts call:
GARAGE
024 7659 7879
024 7667 0054
Courtesy car, collection & delivery options call Brendan McManus direct on: 07958 518924
We service, repair and care for your vehicle
WECARE FOR YOUR TREES
PROFESSIONAL TREE SURGEONS TO BRITISH STANDARDS 3998
FORESTRY TRAINING COUNCIL APPROVED
FULL LIABILITY INSURANCE UP TO £5 MILLION
FELLING
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STUMP REMOVAL
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12, Okehampton Road
Styvechale, Coventry CV3 5AU
Tel: 024 7641 3768
Mob: 07719 005747
Website: www.dunnstreeservices.co.uk
Meriden Village Hall is available for private parties etc. Rates are £10 per hour
Contact Valerie Martin 01676 522963
Berkswell and District and History Group History Group
The aim` of the History Group is to give its members and the general public the opportunity to acquire information & understanding on items of historical interest through meetings, visits and research projects. We normally hold a meeting or a visit in each calendar month.
Wednesday 9th December 8.00pm at Berkswell Reading Room. Members pre-Christmas meeting Wednesday 13th January 8.00pm at Berkswell Reading Room. AGM followed by topical presentation. Thursday 11th February 2.30pm at Balsall Common Village Hall
“Cotswold Curiosities-Part 2” with Alan Winterburn
Visitors are most welcome at all open meetings. Admission to meetings, including refreshments, £2.50 non-members; £1.50 members. Annual membership £5
For our latest news visit the website: www.berkswell-history.org Telephone 01676 535782
Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake, and the snake didn’t have a leg to stand on!!
07882 705490
Meriden Methodist Hall 113 Main Road Meriden CV7 7NH (Opposite Duck Pond)
We have finally obtained our ofsted registration and therefore would like to extend our session times as follows:
Monday 09.15 to 11.45 Wednesday 09.15 to 11.45 Friday 09.15 to 11.45 Lunch 11.45 to 12.30
Meriden Knights Chess Club
The three last remaining Meriden Knights are still meeting at Coventry Chess Club at Massey Fergusson's Social Club. We still have the equipment but need another couple of players to enable us to revive the Knights, restart the Chess Club and field a team to play in a, sadly dwindling, Chess League. For more details
Phone: 01676 521259 or visit Meriden Chess.org
We are also offering Monday and Friday afternoon sessions 12.30 to 15.00 (These will start to run as soon as we have minimum numbers)
The price per session is £10.00 and lunch sessions are £3.00
We ask you to provide a packed lunch for your child
Please feel free to call in and see us anytime
We will close for Christmas Wednesday 16th December and re-open Monday 4th January
Congratulations To: Helen Stain and John Roberts on their marriage on 31st October
Zoë & John Robbins on the birth of baby Hayden
DO YOU NEED A CLEANER?
Do you want someone to do all those household jobs you haven’t got time for?
Then call Jenny now on 07901 530861 Domestic cleaning, Office cleaning Professional cleaning service
Local Farmers Markets
Solihull - High Street
1st Friday in month 9am – 3pm
Kenilworth - Abbey End
2nd Saturday in month 9am-2pm
Warwick - Market Square
3rd Friday in month 10am-3pm
Leamington Spa - bttm of Parade
4th Saturday in month 9am-2pm
Coventry - Market Way
2nd Thursday in month 9am-4.30pm
Coleshill - Church Hill
4th Friday in month 10am – 2pm
A Message from Caroline Spelman MP
Maternity services at risk in Solihull
The issue of maternity services is of crucial importance to the borough of Solihull. The statutory three-month consultation process on the options for the future of this service has not officially begun but already there are women who live locally who may no longer be able to choose Solihull. The reason I continue to bring up this issue and am so exercised about the downgrading of this service is that I believe women should have the choice of safe and local delivery of their babies. Safety depends crucially on good midwifery and the availability of a paediatrician. Full paediatric cover was withdrawn from Solihull in the mid 1990’s but the hospital management made arrangements to rotate paediatricians between Heartlands and Solihull. The proposal to downgrade to a midwife led unit is not fair to our midwives who can be placed in an impossible situation by a perfectly normal delivery going wrong. What we need is the restoration of full paediatric care; essential for a growing borough where another 10 – 15,000 homes will be built by 2026. When the consultation officially begins please make sure you have your say by writing to:
To contact Caroline or make an appointment for a surgery please contact Rachel Anderson on 020 7219 4189 caroline@carolinespelman.com www.carolinespelman.com
Village Hall News
Following the recent grant of £6,500 from the SITA Landfill Trust towards the replacement of the Village Hall windows, Caroline Spelman, our local Member of Parliament, paid a visit to see the improvements. Mrs Spelman’s visit coincided with Julie Hyde’s Thursday afternoon Art Class, and as a keen amateur artist, she took great pleasure in admiring the work of the students and went away with some useful instructional tips.
Friday 4th Dec 4.30 – 6.00 Knowle Village Hall Saturday 12th December 9 – 10.30am 11 – 12pm
The next session for blood donors will be Thursday 17th December at the Heart of England Social Club 1.30-3.30pm & 4.30-7.30pm Appointments available by calling 0845 771 1711
• Are you a job seeker? • Need help to brush up on your interview skills? • Need help with your
THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE
At the time of preparing this article we were a week awayfromRemembrance Sundayand so thought it appropriate to list Meriden’s fallen sons. “With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children ~ England mourns for her dead across the sea. ~ Flesh of her flesh theywere, spirit of her spirit ~ Fallen in the cause of the free.” Laurence Binyon (1869 – 1943)
FIRST WORLD WAR
Captain Edward Nugent Bankes
Trooper PercyEdgar Bowen
Lance Corporal StanleyWaterton Cook
Lieutenant Reginald Ernest Melly
Private Herbert John Massey
Private Louis Callow
2nd Dragoon Guards
Killed in action 26th April 1915
Leicester Yeomanry Died of wounds 13th May1915
Royal Warwickshire Regiment Died of exposure 28th November 1915
King’s (Liverpool) Regiment Killed in action 30th July1916
Royal Warwickshire Regiment Killed in action 18th August 1916
Hampshire Pioneers Killed in action 9th September 1916
Second Lieutenant Kenneth SelbyWaters Indian ArmyReserve of Officers Murdered bytribal raiders 30th May1917
Private Leonard Russell
Private Joseph Albert Jeffcott
Lance Corporal Philip West
Captain Edgar GodfreyIzon
Gunner George Davies
Private George Harold Timms Poole
SECOND WORLD WAR
Leading Stoker GeoffreyRalph Brett
Gunner James Arthur Huntbach
First Officer John Charles Shirley
Sergeant John HenryHollis
Private Douglas Glynn Harries
Private John Leslie Higginson
A/B FCheadle
MERIDEN’S HOME GUARD
Royal Warwickshire Regiment Killed in action 13th April 1918
Lancashire Fusiliers Died of wounds at home 6th May1918
Hampshire Regiment Killed in action 12th September 1918
Royal Warwickshire Regiment Killed in action 27th September 1918
Royal Garrison Artillery 12th December 1918
Royal ArmyVeterinaryCorp 27th June 1919
Royal Navy
Lost at sea 9th June 1940
Royal Artillery 2nd July1941
Air Transport Auxiliary
RAFVolunteer Reserve
Killed in plane crash 7th August 1943
Killed when plane shot down 22nd June 1944
Beds & Herts Regiment 28th June 1944
Leicestershire Regiment 30th July1944
We have now had confirmation fromHarold Devine that George Ellard is third fromthe right on the front row and therefore Joe Ellard is third fromthe right on the middle row. Can you identifythe remaining five?
Back Row: Fred Malin, Stan Ivans, Lol Holtom, PercyDevine, Stan Fisher, Ernie Jones, Charlie Davies, ?, George Sweet, Les Richards
Middle Row: ?, Bill Harvey, ?, ?, George Wilcox, ?, Joe Ellard, Lieutenant Frank Brain, David Print
Front Row: George Pegden, Cecil Hallard, …………Wakefield, Captain Hickman, George Ellard, Jack Barlow, Fran Austin
If you have further information on any of Meriden’s fallen please contact John Moorhouse or Paul and Melanie Lee via the Meriden Mag. STOP PRESS – John Moorhouse would like to convey his appreciation for what could be a record Poppy Appeal collection in Meriden.
Gunner Huntbach Sergeant Hollis Lance Corporal Cook First Officer Shirley Leading Stoker Brett
Our autumn meetings have been well supported and enjoyable. In September Dr Colin Harris (suitably sporting a decorated green hat!) gave us a very informative illustrated talk about Gargoyles and Green Men! Then in October Helen Colburn told us about the magnificent work done by the Dog’s Trust. She brought along Rosie, an eight year old rescue dog, who made friends with everyone before finally curling up on someone’s lap and going to sleep!
Our Annual Meeting took place in November, when we elected the officers and committee for 2010. We are pleased that Joan Russell is willing to continue as President and are grateful for all her hard work.
In December we have arranged to go out for a preChristmas lunch on 3rd and then at our meeting on 7th we are looking forward to being entertained by the Wyken Male Voice Choir.
The programme for the coming year has not yet been finalised but the first meeting will take place on 4th January 2010.
Posters giving further details should be displayed in the village notice boards later in December. Elizabeth Spencer
The President and Members would like to thank Elizabeth, on her retirement from the Committee, for all the hard work and support she has given us during the last 25 years.
Come along and visit us! The club offers a warm welcome, with excellent facilities for all, including a large concert room with live entertainment, lounge with the best view in the village, bar, games room, snooker room and beer garden with play area.
hire available for private functions
Come and discover how the beautiful flowing movements of this ancient art can improve your well-being. Relax and enjoy simple calming relaxation and meditation techniques. Mondays 9.30-10.30am Meriden
CAMEO CAMEO
Come and Meet Each Other at the Community Centre on the 4th Friday of the month at 2.00 p.m.
At our August meeting Sister Celia Hare gave a very interesting and informative talk on the history and work of the Church Army, which is a mission agency within the Anglican Church. It was founded in 1882 by Wilson Carlile, a curate who decided to take the church to ordinary people who would not attend formal Church services. He would play a trombone badly to attract people and would then preach to them. There are over 300 Church Army Officers and they are still to be seen on beaches and caravan sites etc. today. They work with a number of organisations and churches and also as chaplains in hospitals and prisons. Church Army is committed to sharing the Christian faith through words and action and reaches out in particular to children and young people, the homeless and old people.
.
At our Harvest Festival Celebration meeting in September we welcomed a speaker from the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA). The Association helps anyone who has served in the armed forces and their families with any financial, practical and emotional issues they may have. They have recently opened two new Norton Homes, one at Selly Oak in Birmingham, so that loved ones can be near patients recovering from war injuries. The talk was immediately followed by a bring and buy sale which raised £60 for Troop Aid through SSAFA.
In October Ron and Lesley spoke about the work of The Gideons. For the past 60 years the Gideons have been handing out bibles in the U.K. and in order to do so they rely solely on voluntary gifts. Most people are aware that Gideon Bibles are placed in hospitals and hotels and given out to students. However, bibles are also now being given to prisoners. We watched a short film called “Changing Lives in Prison” in which a prisoner described how a bible in his cell transformed his life. Apparently, every prisoner is offered a bible to read in his cell for the long periods when he is locked up; half of them take up the offer and nearly all of them then take testaments with them when they leave prison.
We look forward to welcoming more friends to our meetings so if you need information or a lift please telephone: Ellen 522534 or Pam 523372
Forthcoming Meetings: -
18th December – Christmas Celebration with Margaret Oliver and Singers. 22nd January – Speaker from Solihull Action on Homelessness.
26th February – Talking Newspapers for the Blind and Partially Sighted.
Jamieson House, 326 Kenilworth Rd, Balsall Common CV7 7ER Tel 01676 532 210 Fax 01676 532 520
Jamieson Christie Wealth Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
Liam Halton B.Sc (Hons) Ost. 49 Larch Tree Avenue, (Off Broad Lane), Tile Hill, COVENTRY, CV4 9FT www.larchtreeost.co.uk
TEL: 024 7647 0019
Rotary Club of Meriden
Over the summer, the Club held its “Jazz on the Lawn” fundraising event at Meriden Hall, as part of the annual Meriden Festival. One attraction on display was a “Shelterbox”, a worldwide Rotary project started in the UK. The Shelterbox shown complete with its contents and the tent is equipped to satisfy the basic essential needs for up to 10 people, who have lost everything in a disaster. Shelterboxes have been distributed to areas affected by recent tsunamis in Sumatra, Samoa and Indonesia. The eventual worldwide objective is to be able to provide emergency shelter for 500,000 every year
Read more about what this amazing organization does http://www.shelterbox.org/
This year, our President, Warwick Kendrick, has chosen the MS society as his principal charity, although the club is involved in supporting a number of other charities and causes. We hold an annual senior citizens party, usually in January, to bring a little cheer when it is most needed. Please look out for, and support our Santa Sleigh when it visits Meriden. Ian Courts.
Please contact
Roger Swindells 01675 481754
Chris Swindells 01676 523510 Ian Courts 01676 535490 www.meridenrotary.org.uk
Troop Aid supporting our injured Troops
Who are we?
Troop Aid was founded in November 2006 by three ex-servicemen, Al Sutton, Derek Joss and Ray Warren, as a result of a visit to Selly Oak Hospital’s Alexandra Wing in Birmingham. This is the home of the Defence Medical Welfare Services who are responsible for the Welfare of all Armed Forces Personnel, male and female who have been injured during conflict in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The object of Troop Aid is to supply the basic essentials to casualties returning from serving overseas. Items include T-shirts and shorts, washing and shaving kit, towel, face flannel toothpaste, toothbrush, shower mules, socks, underwear, pen and paper.
EXOTIC THAI
DEE IS AT QUEENS HEAD PUB
OLD ROAD
MERIDEN
Exotic Thai cuisine cooked in the traditional Thai Way
OPEN 5 days a week Tuesday to Saturday
Food can be ordered between the following times:
Tuesday – Thursday 7.00pm till 10.00pm (closing)
Friday – Saturday 7.00pm till 10.30pm (closing)
Book in advance to avoid disappointment 01676
523740
(6.00pm till 9.30pm)
The management reserves the right of admission
Warwickshire WildlifeTrust
Christmas 2009 and February half-term 2010
The Parkridge Centre, Brueton Park, Solihull
10.30am – 12 noon and 1:00pm -2:30pm
We have three wonderful Christmas Workshops this year for the children starting on Monday 21st December with ‘Winter Wonderland’ including a winter walk and festive crafts. Tuesday 22nd December is ‘Festive Fun’ and includes a reindeer trail and Christmas decorations to make and take home. Wednesday 23rd is ‘Festive Fun for Tots’ aimed at children aged 5 and under.
February half-term 2010
10.30am – 12 noon and 1:00pm -2:30pm
We have a week of fun packed action planned for half-term. We will be doing ‘Survival Dens’, ‘Woodland Explorers’ and ‘Woodland Explorers for Tots’, ‘Feed the Birds’ and ‘Nature’s Detectives’. Please call the Centre for more information.
Similar events take place at Brandon Marsh Centre, Brandon Lane, Coventry For details of these please phone 02476 302 912
Nuts about Nature Club
This runs once a month on a Saturday morning between 9:00 – 11:00 am and everyone is welcome.
Really Wild Parties
Why not book a party at the Parkridge Centre? Party times are available every Saturday and Sunday and at other times by special request during the year. We offer a wide range of creative and exciting activities and can also provide the food, invitations and party bags for you.
Toddler Trundle Group
We also run a Toddler Group every Wednesday during term time only between 10:30 -12:00, booking is essential and the session costs £2.50 per child
Cost of each workshop is £3.00 per child or £4.00 for non WWT Members
To book any of these events please call 0121 704 0768 Or
Credit Crunch!
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Treatment for pain, stress, acute and chronic conditions
Alison Stain
M.C.S.P., S.R.P., I.T.E.C.
The Therapy Centre, Balsall Villa 287 Kenilworth Road Balsall Common Tel: 01676 521066
Design and Construction
• Cultivated Turf & Lawns
• Patios - Paths - Yorkstone
• Block Paving - Drives
• Decking - Pergolas
• Fencing - Trellis Work
• All Brickwork - Ponds
• Garden Maintenance
Free advice & estimates
Portfolio and references available
MUSIC FOR A WINTER'S NIGHT
Saturday 16th January 2010
7.30pm
Holy Trinity Church
Beauchamp Avenue, Leamington Spa
In aid of MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
Gaynor Keeble Mezzo Soprano
Michael CliftonThompson, Tenor
Stuart Smith, Piano
with Damian Carter ( Baritone) and Esther Woods (Clarinet/ Saxophone)
Popular Music from Opera and Musicals and pieces for solo clarinet/sax
Tickets £14.00 (Full Price)
£12.00 (Concessions)
Advance Bookings please contact 07702 721775 or 01676 533072
email: impressionPR@btinternet.com
Over skimming
Dry lining
Over boarding
Rendering
Stud walling
Arches
All plastering requirements
Meriden
onday 11th December18
Floral Society
Meriden Village Hall at 7.30pm prompt
Monday December 14th
“When you wish upon a Star” Lee Berrill
Monday January 18th Practice class – Members only
Monday February 15th
A.G. M – Members only
For more details of Meriden Flower Club please contact Val Miller 01676 540380 / Sandra Jones 01676 523023
50 years of the Triumph Bonneville Motor Bike
Sunday August 23rd was a pleasant autumn day when many Millison’s Wood residents were enjoying a lie in. This didn’t last long as the thrumming of hundreds of powerful motorbikes shattered the normal Sunday peace. It was the 50th anniversary of the day that the first Bonneville motorbike came off the production line. A sleek and powerful machine it had captured the imagination of bikers the world over. The Bonneville Club of Great Britain was there and Bonneville owners from overseas, including a delegation from Denmark, had travelled here to pay homage.
The usual visit entails each owner photographed with his bike against the Bonneville Road sign. In view of the numbers this would have been a very long job so my husband pointed out the memorial stone, which is now in place commemorating the site of the Triumph factory. The bikers, who hadn’t spotted it, were thrilled to bits with the handsome granite base and dashing plaque. Immediately the queue was halved, as everyone had to be photographed by the stone before they roared off to their next call.
Their enthusiasm and delight with the memorial was a pleasure to see and I feel that everyone who played a part in having it placed in this spot would have been gratified by their appreciation.
Margaret Houldsworth
Meriden Surgery 01676 522252
Opening Hours
1.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8.30am to 6pm Wednesday 8.30am to 12.00
When the Surgery is closed
The Practice uses a GP co-operative Badger for emergencies outside normal surgery hours. For details on how to obtain medical help when the surgery is closed please telephone 01676 532587
Repeat Prescription Requests
We prefer these to be ordered using the list attached to your previous prescription.
• Post to the surgery
• Hand to the surgery
• Fax 01676 523865 to the surgery
If necessary telephone requests will be taken between 10.00am and 12.30pm & 2.00pm-4.00pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday. Please quote your computer number.
48 HOURS NOTICE MUST BE GIVEN FOR ALL PRESCRIPTION
REQUESTS
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TREATMENT FOR SWINE FLU
www.direct.gov.uk/pandemicflu
Information : 0800 1513 513
Treatment : 0800 1 513 100
What are the symptoms of swine flu?
If you have a fever or a high temperature (over 38C / 100.4F) and have two of the following symptoms:
Unusual tiredness, headache, runny nose, sore throat, shortness of breath or cough, loss of appetite, aching muscles, diarrhoea or vomiting, you may have swine flu.
How to use the National Pandemic Flu Service
1. Go on line at www.direct.gov.uk/pandemicflu or call 0800 1 513 100
2. You’ll be taken through a list of simple questions about your symptoms and medical history and asked to confirm your date of birth, name and address including your post code
3. If you are confirmed as having swine flu, you may be given an authorisation number which will allow your ‘flu friend’ (a family member, friend or neighbour) to collect a course of antivirals on your behalf from a local collection point in your area. You will also be given advice on how to treat your symptoms at home
When is it better to contact your doctor?
1. If you have a serious underlying illness
2. You are pregnant
3. You have a sick child under one year old
4. You or your child’s condition suddenly gets much worse
5. Your condition is still getting worse after 7 days (five for a child)
Home Visits
If patients are too ill to attend the surgery, or are housebound and need a doctor to visit them at home please telephone the surgery 01676522252 before 10.00am.
Comments
If you would like to make any comments, complaints or suggestions concerning the surgery please contact Joanne Hope, Practice manager on 01676 532213 or in writing to the surgery.
Christmas is a time when we are often given a houseplant as a present or indeed buy them to decorate the house. Looking after houseplants during the wintertime can present quite a challenge, as the house if often very warm and dry during the day with low natural light levels, whilst at night the temperature can drop considerably.
Rooms in the house can also differ massively in their humidity levels, bathrooms and kitchens are generally the most humid rooms with living rooms and bedrooms being drier, hallways being the driest. Warm air can hold more water than cold air so more moisture is needed over the winter in a heated room to increase the relative humidity. On a cold winters day in Britain in a centrally heated room the humidity levels can drop to the same level as the Sahara, no wonder the plants get a little upset! How quickly the compost dries out is a good measure of how dry the air is.
Watering houseplants is a minefield. Without knowing the growing conditions of the particular indoor planteveryone places them in different positions in different rooms - it is an impossible question to answer. However, there are some general guidelines that one can use.
In reality, many people forget about their houseplants until they see them drooping, from lack of moisture. Whilst too much water is a certain killer of many plants indoors, the lack of moisture can also have a detrimental effect on the health of a houseplant.
Some plants should always be watered from the bottom - via a saucer. Cyclamen are such plants, together with some of the begonias. The logic behind watering a cyclamen from below is that if watering from the top moisture can collect in the crown of the corm and cause it to rot.
As a general rule, flowering houseplants tend to grow quicker than those, which are grown for foliage effect. They will require more water as a result. Foliage houseplants are mostly more amenable to being neglected as far as watering is concerned.
Most plants will benefit from a feed once every two to four weeks. The tip is not to miss a few and then give it loads as this will cause more problems such as wilting leaves and contorted new leaves. Less is better, less often than lots infrequently. A Liquid feed is probably the best method of feeding as it supplies the right amount of food over the whole of the root system, and it can be regulated over the growing/dormant season.
A popular plant at this time of year is the Christmas Cactus. A native of Brazil the original hybrids had cherry red flowers. Nowadays, many colours are available. They bloom when the day starts shortening. In order to get blossom around Christmas it is advisable to put them in a cool place where they will get at least 12 to 14 hours of darkness a day. To encourage flowering increase watering when the flower buds appear and fertilize every two weeks until the flowers open.
Cyclamen (cyclamen persicum) are one of the most popular winter flowering pot plants, and with the appropriate care can last several months. Most will flower from mid-November until mid February, provided conditions are right. They do best in a north-facing window and do not like direct sun. Cyclamen prefer cool temperatures, 50 deg - 60 deg F ideally, and high humidity. To increase humidity stand the pot on a pebble tray filled with water or set the plant in a larger pot surrounded with damp peat. Cyclamen like to be kept moist at all times and only watered by the immersion method; this involves setting the plant in a bowl of water so that the cyclamen takes the water from the bottom up until the surface glistens and water does not touch the crown. When the cyclamen has finished blooming watering and feeding should be reduced. Place the pot on its side and keep dry until midsummer. Then re-pot with fresh compost. planting the tuber to half its depth. Stand in a cool, well-lit spot and water to keep moist.
Poinsettias are widely available at Christmas time and they are native to Mexico where they can reach heights of 10 feet. Poinsettias can be placed in sunken pots in gardens and brought inside during threatening weather conditions. When purchasing it is good advice to avoid plants that have been restricted by plastic, paper, or netting as restraints diminish the plant’s quality. Indoors, poinsettias flourish in a draughtfree location with indirect sunlight. Watering should be done when soil feels dry; over-watering causes wilting and irreversible root damage. When leaves fall in late winter, stems should be cut back considerably and watering should be minimal. In order for poinsettias to bloom for the holidays, they really require six weeks of total darkness for 14 hours each day (and four hours of sunlight).
Thanks to Elaine Hitchens of Balsall Common and District Horticultural Society for this article
Celebrate Christmas
Christma Christma Christmas Services in the Village s Services in the Village s Services Village s Services Village
Friday 27th November 4.00pm - Dedication of Tree of Thought on the Green
Sunday 13th December 4pm – Carol Service with Meriden Christian Fellowship at Scout Hut
Tuesday 15th December 6pm – Christingle Service at St Laurence Church
Saturday 19th December 3:30pm - Carols on the Green
[If the weather is poor the celebration will move to the Methodist Church]
Sunday 20th December 1pm – Cyclists Carol Service at St Laurence Church 4pm – Carol Service at Methodist Church
Thursday 24th December, Christmas Eve
11:30pm – Midnight Communion Service at St Laurence Church
11:30pm – Midnight Communion Service at Methodist Church
Friday 25th December, Christmas Day
10am – Christmas Day Celebration with Holy Communion at St Laurence Church
11am – Christmas Day Service with Holy Communion at Meriden Christian Fellowship at the Scout Hut
The Church of St John Baptist Berkswell
Is holding a festival of decorated Christmas Trees
Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in Christmas Carols.
The Festival will start on Saturday 19th December and will run until Sunday 3rd January. The church will be open every day from 10.00am – 4.00pm There is no charge for admission
Wine and nibbles
Evening, 6.30-8.30pm
Saturday 19th Dec
£3.00 per person
For more information
Carol Service and mince pies
Saturday 19th December 7.30pm
Director of music: Peter M Gregory
The East Gate barrier and the Main Gate will be open
Everyone welcome
Phone Dot Hall 02476 465668 The Estate Chapel of St. James Great Packington
The Rotary Club of Meriden wishes you all a Happy Christmas; we will be bringing Santa to visit and collecting for Rotary charities on the following evenings:
Wed 16th Dec starting at 6.45pm
Albert Rd
Bonneville Close
James Dawson Drive
Thursday 17th Dec starting at 6.30pm
Leys Lane
Alspath Rd
Fairfield Rise The Croft
Friday 18th Dec starting at 6.30pm
Main Rd
Glovers Close
Strawberry Fields
Fillongley Rd
We will also be collecting in Fillongley Village on Thursday 10th December. Hampton in Arden on Friday11th December and at Blooms Garden Centre Kenilworth Rd on Saturday12th December btw 10.30am & 4.30pm and Sunday13th btw. 11.00am & 4.00pm
Meriden Tree of Thought
Meriden C of E School
Christmas Fayre
Friday 4th December 4th December
6.00pm 6.00pm –– 8pm 8pm
Don’t forget you can get your dedication forms from Meriden Tea Rooms, Spar Shop, News Express, Lloyds Chemist, The Bull’s Head and Blitz. Please support this very worthwhile cause
Entrance Fee 50p under 12’s free
Entrance Fee 50p under 12’s free free free
Santa’s Grotto
Barbecue
Christmas
Write a letter to
Father Christmas and post it in the special box in Meriden Library. Be sure to include your name and address so that Father Christmas can reply. Last date for posting Thursday 17th December
Note to parents
All names and addresses will be destroyed afterwards and are not required for any other purpose.
Father Christmas would not like to disappoint any of his little friends, but he is, like the rest of us, reliant on the postal service. In case of query or non-receipt of a reply, please contact us – our details are on the back page.
Happy Christmas Val & Margaret
Painting with Julie
We in Meriden and Coleshill art groups had a fantastic summer, meeting out on location to paint and draw. We were all over the place from Kenilworth, Blakesley Hall to Coleshill Church but a special thank you has to go to the owners of Blythe Hall; Church Farm, Meriden and Maxstoke Priory for allowing us to come into their private grounds to paint. They were special days, thank you!
It’s the season of Christmas cards again so let’s paint something seasonal! A Christmas Tree!
Lightly draw a triangle shape and a pot shape at the bottom on to watercolour paper.
Mix separate puddles of water colours in the following colours, make them quiet strong:-
• Dark Green (try mixing a dark blue and a yellow)
• Bright Green or Viridian (try mixing a light blue and a lemon yellow)
• Yellow
• Red
• Purple
Working from the top, add dashes of one of the greens, then dashes of purple, then dashes of the other green and so on with all the colours. Work in slightly scruffy bands across the tree, going over the drawn triangle, all the way down the tree.
For the pot mix puddles of
• Red
• Purple
Add these to the pot, the red towards the top and to one side and the purple towards the bottom and to the other side. Leave a little white patch.
Add a little Purple for the trunk.
Add a little weak Blue for the shadow on the floor making sure it touches the bottom of the pot.
When the tree is dry, wet small circles on the tree with clean water and dab with kitchen roll. This should lift out small patches of paint. In these, circles of Red can be painted back in for baubles. Paint a little star on top.
With some of the colours used in the tree, load a brush with paint and using your finger, flick the paint on to the background (practice somewhere else first)
Add a few squiggles for party streamers.
Congratulations to John Douglas
Many people have admired John Douglas’s and Barbara Cookes’s lovely garden and hanging baskets this year. All John’s hard work has paid off because the garden came second in the garden competition at the Fillongley Show and more recently John was awarded First Place for the garden, First Place for the hanging baskets and finally First Place for The Queen’s Head Meriden. John is responsible for the excellent display outside the pub. These awards were part of the Solihull in Bloom garden competition. John’s successes do not end there because he was awarded the Champion of Champions shield at the award ceremony at Notcutts in October.
Ramblings From The Allotments
Picking up from where I left off at the beginning of August two things were in the pipeline. First we held a late summer barbecue on Bank holiday Monday. Although the weather was chilly it stayed dry and was much enjoyed by all those who attended. Secondly construction started on a very much needed greenhouse. We did have a small one but felt this was by no means big enough and you know the motto if you are going to have one have a big one. As a joint venture with our friends on the next allotment, the chaps have erected and fixed together three small green houses and made a BIG one. We are trying to extend the season a little and due to the absolute failure of the outdoor tomatoes this year we will hopefully do better next year. The melons fared no better so here’s hoping for better things next year.
Late September saw the completion of the long awaited greenhouse and the Christmas potatoes were planted in tubs along with some early broad beans and peas. Some salad seeds have been sown with a view to harvesting some fresh salad leaves later in the year. The watercress has perked up since it was brought into the greenhouse, so it seems as if all systems are go!
Watch this space next year and I will be able to let you know if the potatoes planted for Christmas came to anything. It is now the time of year when there is not very much going on, just a general tidy up and the bean trench to dig (glad it’s not me doing it) but there is always plenty of weeding for me to do like around next year’s early onions. I have included in this piece a soup recipe from a booklet purchased at the King’s Heath Show in September, produced by the Birmingham Organic gardeners. I thought you might like to try it this winter –
Brussels Sprout Soup
1 large onion chopped
60g butter
375g Brussels sprouts quartered
250g potato or celeriac peeled and diced
(or 1 potato and celery stalks)
6 tbsp cream
Chopped parsley, salt and pepper
Method
Sweat onion in butter with lid on until soft. Stir in sprouts and vegetables, cover and cook for 3-4 mins, do not let catch or brown.
Pour in generous litre of water, simmer until vegetables are soft, cool, then liquidise.
Return to just below boiling point, take off heat and stir in cream, parsley and seasoning.
Serve with fingers of toast and cheese
I have not tried this soup so I cannot comment on it; I will make it when the frost has been on the sprouts. Still no allotments available but you never know what will happen in the Spring Ann Butler 01676 522745
CHRISTMAS TREES
HOLLY WREATHS
Crosses, chaplets, garlands
Holly arrangements from £5.00
GIBSON’S NURSERY
MILLISONS WOOD HILL MERIDEN 01676 522233
Christmas Turkeys Locally grown
Fed on cereal and vegetable diet
No hormones or animal by-product proteins
All sizes available from 10lb up Barry Pointon
6.30am-10pm
7.30am-10pm Normal opening hours throughout Christmas Christmas Day 9.00am - 4.00pm
01676 522216
01676 523010
07855 417738 collect or deliver
If you want the best this is the Place to come
“Nobody
Letter from Meriden, Connecticut, USA
“I never thought of that”
writes letters anymore.”
I finally had to stop singing that lament after it had dawned on me, a few hundred times, that I’m exactly the kind of nobody in question.
Here’s how it used to work: You’d sit down and think, then make some marks on a piece of paper, then think some more, then make some more marks, then you’d sign it and stick it in an envelope and stick a stamp on the envelope and stick the envelope in one of those blue steel boxes on the street, and then somebody from the Government would take it out of the box, and a few days later it would turn up at somebody else’s house — even if they lived all the way across the country or halfway around the world.
Here’s how it works now: You go to your computer and type some deep thoughts — “i am moving my left foot … i am moving my right foot … :-) … LOL” — then you hit “send” and two seconds later that profundity arrives, whether it’s going to Upper Volta or the Lower 48.
Some of us remember that it used to be one of life’s little pleasures to open the mailbox and — mixed in with all the bills, and offers from credit card companies that would very much like to be able to send you bills, and maybe a postcard from your representative in either Hartford or Washington, updating you on what a bang-up job she’s doing for you — you’d find a letter: a packet of folded paper, from someone you actually cared about, which had actually been touched by that person and had come a very long distance, just for you.
(What is now called snail-mail may be passé, but can you, I ask, put a couple of drops of perfume on an e-mail? Or seal a text message with a kiss? For more evidence, this time at 45 rpm, please consult The Marvelettes: “Please, Mr. Postman,” 1961; and The Box Tops: “The Letter,” 1967.)
All the better if the letter was adorned with a foreign stamp bearing the portrait of the local monarch, with declarations in foreign words and demarcations in foreign money, and you were at least vaguely aware that it took not only the postal workers of two lands, working in two languages, but also an international treaty (which might even have been signed by the personage depicted on the stamp) to get this one little missive to your door from far-away Turin or Tokyo or Timbuktu. But why bother, when everybody has e-mail?
Trouble is, not quite everybody has e-mail, even now. I know at least three people who don’t. So last week I decided it was high time I sent an update to my brother, in California. Oh sure, we could have had one of those tinny, scratchy, “can you hear me now?” cellular chats. Or I could have phoned him an excruciatingly cryptic text message, or even a grainy photo to view on the tiny screen. But I decided it was time for a real letter instead. So I wrote one. But then my printer ran out of ink. So I jotted down the number of the cartridge and went to the one store where I was sure they’d have it, but they didn’t, so then I drove to another store, in another town, and searched the whole wall of cartridges on display, of just that one brand — and finally, way down at the bottom, there it was. So I grabbed the last HP 901 thingie in the joint and hurried home.
But couldn’t I have saved time and money, you ask, and gasoline too, by simply picking up a pen? What? And write the old-fashioned way? That would be asking too much.
Reach Glenn Richter at grichter@record-journal.com or (203) 317-2222
INTRODUCTORY 2 FOR 1 MAIN COURSE OFFER 2 FOR 1 MAIN COURSE OFFER
• Redeem this voucher to receive your discount
• Only one voucher per order up to a maximum of four people.
• Purchase a dish to claim a second one of equal value for free up to the value of £10
• Valid Sunday to Thursday only
• Damaged defaced or photocopied vouchers will not be accepted
• Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer
• Two for one offer only valid when name and address details are completed
Meriden library
01676 522717
Open Monday 10.00am – 7.00pm
Thursday 10.00am – 7.00pm
Saturday 10.00am – 1.00pm
Now winter has arrived again, why not take some time out from the cold weather and Christmas shopping to curl up with a good book? Here at Meriden Library there are thousands of books – from the latest best sellers to classic novels. Look out for our display of cosy crime in the new year – just right for those dark evenings in front of the fire!
There are lots of events taking place in the run up to the Christmas festivities:
Our Christmas Coffee Morning will take place on Thursday 17th December 2009, 10.00am – 12 noon. Everyone is welcome, so please come and join us for mince pies, coffee and good conversation.
We will be having a Christmas Storytime for the under 5s on Monday 14th December 2009, 2.30pm – 3.15pm. The children will be having stories, rhymes and craft activities all with a festive theme. There is no need to book a place – just turn up on the afternoon ready to enjoy yourselves. We also run our storytimes every Monday afternoon throughout the year during term time, between 2.45pm – 3.15pm. Everybody welcome!
Don’t forget the library has Internet access to help you keep in touch with those loved ones far away over the Christmas period.
Looking further ahead into 2010, the library will be having a visit from Jo Jingles on Thursday 11th February, 1.00pm –1.30pm. There will be fun music and singing for children from 18 months to 4 years old, with grown ups joining in together with actions and rhymes. Please ask staff at the library for more details.
Temporary closure of Meriden Library for remedial works – Damp course. Plans to close Meriden Library for work on its damp course have been postponed until Summer 2010. Watch this space for more information.
MERIDEN LIBRARY READERS GROUP
The Meriden Library Readers Group meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7.30p.m. when we talk about books with a similar theme.
Details of the venue from Meriden Library staff.
9th December - Christmas Party
If you would like to join us for mincepies and a glass of wine you would be very welcome - just dig out a Christmassy reading or poem and try your hand at a quiz.
13th January - The Xmas book present you most enjoyed.
10th February - A book that you find funny: witty, amusing, absurd or?
If you can't make party night why not make a resolution to join us in the New Year - there are so many great writers out there now. Margaret Houldsworth
In July the half-yearly ‘in house’ newsletter ‘The Informer’ was sent to members giving them an up date. During the past months we have continued to expand to a membership of 162. All our groups remained active in spite of the unpredictable weather and our Summer Lunch, organized by Peter Driffield, was an enjoyable get-together at The Lakes, Barston. In October we launched a successful ‘Sing-a-long’ group, which meets monthly at the Village Hall, this is organised by Sheila Burdett who plays the keyboard and gives out song sheets.
Currently we are looking to produce our in-house Christmas Miscellany for our December meeting on Monday 14th December at 2.00pm in the Village Hall when members will read poems of their choice interspersed with a musical selection.
We held a successful potluck supper recently when many new members came along and we hope to repeat this in 2010.
This has been a successful year in moving forward. In 2010 we hope to increase our interest groups and whilst our membership is growing we do not, as yet, plan to open a waiting list
Our general meetings are at 1-45 for 2-00 in The Village Hall on the 4th Monday in the month, unless this a holiday and then it is the 3rd Monday. Prospective members are always welcome. There is a charge of £2.50 refundable if you join at the meeting.
More information on our programme and groups is available from Anne Santos Chairman on 01676 534003 or email: info@balsallcommonu3a.org or visit our website www.balsallcommonu3a.org which has links to our newsletter and our photographs on our flickr.com site.
In January our 2010 email Newsletter will be available. Please email me for a copy.
Freshly prepared food available all day, every day until 10.00pm and 9.30pm on Sundays
Come along and enjoy our
• Brand new winter menu
• Great cask ales
• Continental beers
• Fantastic wine list
• Children’s menu
Peps and ISAs
• Fresh Turkeys, geese, cockerels and ducks
• Licensed to sell Game
• All cuts of beef including beef on the bone
• Superb home made sausages & burgers
• Free Range Chickens
• Famous Berkswell Ewes Milk Cheese
• Traditional pork with real crackling
• Real home cured bacon
• Butcher of the year 2008 Warwickshire Life magazine
Warwickshire’s only accredited traditional breeds butcher
Listed as one of Rick Stein’s “Food Heroes”
Phil Tuckey
“The Country Butcher”
Christmas Greetings from Dorset
We would like to wish all our friends and neighbours in Millisons Wood and Meriden a very Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year. We are both keeping well and can hardly believe that it is four years since we moved to Marnhull. Our best wishes to you all and thanks to Val and Margaret for continuing to send us a copy of the magazine; we both enjoy reading its contents
Charles and Marjorie Beesley
Dear Meriden Mag
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Macmillan Coffee Morning
Many thanks to everyone who came to our coffee morning at the Community Centre at Alspath Road on September 25th
We had a lovely morning with lots of people dropping in. You raised £350.50 on the day.
Thanks to everyone who helped run it especially Vicky and her excellent Tombola, Janet with her Bring and Buy and Val who organised the raffle and various other activities.
Shirley Goodsir
Through your magazine I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the kind folks that stopped and pushed my car off the Shepherd’s Lane/ Maxstoke Lane junction on Wednesday 21st October. My car decided to give up on me just at the crucial moment as I’d pulled out onto Maxstoke Lane. Three cars very kindly stopped and help push me into a safe spot (just outside The Dairy Farm – sorry Adam & Maryanne!).
With the last of the goodbyes and thank yous, I was now standing alone, miles from anything with less than 4 legs, and about to make a call to get towed to my local garage when out of the mist (well round the corner!) came the most wonderful fluorescent vision of an RAC van. Now I hadn’t called the RAC, I wasn’t even in the RAC but the very lovely driver pulled over, took a look beneath my bonnet, poked about, checked this and that and came to the conclusion I had a defunct sensor! He then towed me to the garage, told the guys there what was wrong with the car and then took me back to work (which is where I was heading in the first place!)
If this isn’t beyond the call of duty I don’t know what is! I know the young man’s name but do not want to get him into trouble as he did say ‘I’m not really supposed to do this’ – you don’t say!
He is a local lad, and his mum still lives in the village so Mrs M your boy is a good decent lad, and has reinforced my belief that most people round here are. So a huge thank you to my knight in shining armour, (well blue boiler suit) and to the cars that stopped to help push me – your kindness made my day! Regards
Melanie Smith
Dear Meriden Mag
No I am not writing to incite rage against the alleged horrors of ‘hoodies’, under-age drinking and the deterioration of a cohesive society – I am concerned with a much more consistently revolting kind of social transgression. I am talking about dog mess. At Meriden CE Primary School we are extremely fortunate to be able to take our pupils to enjoy the facilities available at the local library, and often enjoy the pleasant walk down the road to our destination. However, when my class and I ventured out a few weeks ago we found our journey hampered by numerous piles of dog faeces spread across the pavements. This appears to be a long standing problem as many of the other classes have reported similar experiences, and some parents have also mentioned that they have had to dodge (sometimes unsuccessfully) offending piles whilst travelling to and from school. I have owned dogs all my life and it was always instilled in me that when your dog fouls a public area you pick it up and dispose of it. Indeed many of the pupils accompanying me were also horrified at the blatant lack of respect exhibited for their locality, and the people within it. I agree it is not the most pleasant of tasks to clear up after a dog, but it is certainly every owner’s social responsibility. Too often we hear the cries of ‘it isn’t me’, but it must be someone, so my class and I ask, in the nicest possible way, that all dog owners give the rest of us a good name for a change – and please clean up after your dogs.
With hopeful anticipation,
Sarah Deakin (Miss) and Class 3
Meriden CE Primary School
The Orme
School of Dancing
Meriden branch
Methodist Church Hall
Classes in Ballet, Tap, Modern Jazz, Freestyle and Contemporary
Sir William Dugdale, Warwickshire’s most famous historian, knew Meriden well. A letter survives showing he sometimes stopped here on his way home from London carrying ready money with him in the days before banks for significant inhabitants. He believed that the village owed its very existence to ‘some inns and alehouses built for the receipt of passengers on the London Road and that this growth was quite recent (1656). Ogilby, a compiler of a travellers’ guide published in 1675, also described Meriden as a place ‘consisting chiefly of inns’. Thus the inns provided much of the village’s economic wealth then as now, I suspect. In Henry VIII’s reign there were at least 2 inns ‘The Bell’ near where Old Road branches left at the bottom of the Hill and another larger inn whose name has not been recorded but may have been on the site of Glover’s Close, capable of providing hospitality for a noble group with a retinue of 24 and many horses. Oastlers would be needed throughout the horse era until the railway from London to Birmingham (1838) caused the wholesale closure of at least four inns. The four cottages that made up Tory Row by the Pool and the drovers’ stop, the Falcon alehouse housed those working for the ‘Bull Head’. This was never ‘Victoria’ Row as the buildings predated that Queen by a century; a 1724 document called them ‘Tory Row’. I am therefore drawn to the conclusion that it was slang for ‘Thieves Row’ the original meaning of Tory: what the inhabitants thought of the ostlers perhaps some of whom may have been strangers. No doubt the larger inns might provide work for men with ancillary occupations like blacksmiths, the wheelwright and the cooper whose premises could be found along the village street.
Life at the inn itself was bustling. Bread, ale, beer and cheese were prepared locally or on the premises. We know that you could enjoy fried bacon and eggs, spit roast chicken, turkey and duck or fresh fish, some caught in Meriden Pool. Cooking would be a hot, greasy job. In the largest high class inn: the Bull Head which stood opposite the Pool, one cook in the 1670s was a French man while another working there was wanted for theft, tracked down and arrested by the village constable. Some menus would be sophisticated because of the calibre of guest. Waiters and domestic staff relied as now on tips that grasping landlords kept them for themselves. The chief inns had private as well as public eating rooms. A party of rich clients could hire a suite of heated rooms with four poster beds, colour co-ordinated curtains and carpets and what passed for luxury: chamber pots and tallow candles; wood or coal fires; pewter vessels and dishes, towels, damask napkins and charcoal filled bedpans to heat the beds, all of which had to be serviced by maids usually from the village. Chests and coffers stored plentiful bedding and other linens. Some inns also had a farm attached with animals and arable crops so were largely self-sufficient.
Though we think of innkeepers being men this was by no means an all- male preserve. Several of them were in fact run by widows throughout the period. For 5 years in James I reign the ‘Cock Inn’ on the present Green near the War Memorial was run for the underage owner by his grandmother Ann Mottershead a woman in her 60s. In the Civil War (1642-46) a younger widow Mary Harper controlled the ‘Antelope’ still there opposite the present Bull’s Head. It was a tough task fending off the depredations of the cavalry soldiers billeted on her. At the ‘Red Lion’ opposite, now the ‘Bull’s Head’ much official government business was conducted by tax collectors assessing the Hearth Tax and enforcing customs duties. The earliest Turnpike (1724) from Daventry ended here. The ‘Queen’s’ often had women at the helm as the publican in the 1740s and at the turn of C19/20th. Until she married John Reynolds in 1707, the nationally famous ‘Bull Head’ even belonged to a woman Mistress Judith Garnons, niece of the previous owner Master Taylor.
Doreen Agutter.
Next article, by request: The Meriden Charities.
Part 1 Our Oldest Charities: ‘Lapworth’s Osier Grove’ founded before 1551; Lucas’s Grove.
COLUM O’NEILL
Tel: 02476 441149
Mob: 079 86385308
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• GUTTERING & DOWNPIPES - SQUARE & ROUND
• CUT TO SIZE ACRYLIC & POLYCARBONATE SHEETS
• DECORATIVE COVING & CORNICE
The public and press are cordially invited to all meetings in the Village Hall at 7.30pm. An opportunity will be given for the public to speak. Look out for the Agenda, which is posted on the parish notice boards prior to the meeting.
December 2009 16th Parish Council Meeting
January 201013th Finance Committee Meeting
25th Parish Council Meeting
February 201010th Joint Surgery 22nd Parish Council Meeting
Your Parish Councillors are:
Should you wish to contact your Parish Council please contact the Clerk: Mrs J Hall
Rosie Weaver (Chair); Bob Kipling (Vice Chair); Graeme Goodsir; Shirley Goodsir; Marilyn Hamilton; Melanie Lee; Sarah Markham; Will Markham.
1) COMMUNITY SURGERIES
The West Midlands Police along with Susan East, our Neighbourhood Coordinator from Solihull Council, will be available for you to discuss any issues at Meriden Library on Monday mornings from 10.00am – 12.00 noon on the following dates 14th December, January 18th and February 15th A representative from Solihull Council Anti Social Behaviour Team will also be present at the December surgery. If this service is utilised it will continue, so please do attend to discuss your issues.
2) POLICE COMMUNITY SUPPORT OFFICER- FOR MERIDEN
West Midlands Police have recently employed a new PCSO for Meriden.
3) DOME HAWK CAMERA
Thank you to those residents who responded to our request for comments on the Dome Hawk Camera. Solihull ASB Team have now installed a dome hawk camera in Alspath Road adjacent to the Community Centre. All your comments can be used in any future application to move the camera to the Green.
4) SOLIHULL IN BLOOM
The Borough of Solihull achieved its best ever results this year with a gold award in the city category, city category winner award, overall Heart of England in Bloom winner. For the local competitions, although the Green was put through to the final round of judging we were unsuccessful in receiving any prizes this year. However, CONGRATULATIONS to THE QUEENS HEAD and MR JOHN DOUGLAS of Eaves Green for winning the following categories.
The Solihull Times Pub/Hotel/Restaurant Frontage – 1st, The Queens Head Meriden. The Notcutts Front Garden Prize – 1st Mr John Douglas The Notcutts past winners Hanging Basket – 1st Mr John Douglas CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS 2009 – Mr John Douglas.
This is an outstanding achievement and the Parish Council convey their many congratulations to you both! Please see photograph on colour pages of this magazine.
5) JOINT SURGERIES – WARD COUNCILLORS AND PARISH COUNCIL
The Parish Council and Solihull MBC Ward Councillors will be holding Joint Surgeries on 10th February 2010 and 10th March 2010, 7.30pm at the Village Hall. Residents are invited to come along and talk in confidence to Parish Councillors and a Ward Councillor about your concerns. Residents are asked to contact the Clerk to book a 10-minute time slot.
6) MERIDEN, CENTRE OF ENGLAND – Guide Books for Sale
In 1994 to celebrate Meriden Parish Council Centenary, a number of booklets were produced of which some are left. The current Parish Council have agreed that copies be made available at Meriden, Solihull and Connecticut USA Libraries and to sell the remaining copies for £1 with the proceeds being available for any future publications on Meriden. Please contact the Clerk if you would like to purchase a copy.
7) FOLLOW OUR BLOG, FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
Under the theme of community, one of our actions in the Meriden Parish Plan is to promote the Meriden Mag and develop the Parish Council website and blog as the most effective means of communications in our community. Our website is www.meridenparishcouncil.org.uk and there is a link to our blog which is www.meridenparishcouncil.blogspot.com and our Twitter page www.twitter.com/meridenparish. Help us make these two-way communication channels work for the residents of Meriden. Visit our site, comment on our blog, send us a tweet.
You may wish to keep this page as a guide to crime reporting and anti social behaviour
ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR (ASB)
This is behaviour that has caused or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household. An ASB ORDER issued legally should be taken very seriously and, if breached, it could result in the offender being sentenced to a 5-year term of imprisonment. EXAMPLES are: - shouting, swearing, spitting, criminal damage, throwing missiles, litter, drunkenness, abusive to passers by, intimidation, threats of violence, playing loud music.
The Parish Council would like to thank Mr Kelvin Jones for designing the above decision trees
Safer Streets
I am writing to you to advise you about a new Home Office website that will give you the residents a real say in how to improve the safety of your streets. Here in Solihull we have been chosen to pilot the scheme for a threemonth period.
You will be able to use the interactive website to identify streets where you do and don’t feel safe by using virtual ‘pins’. You can give your reasons any photos to support your views. For example, you might say that you don't feel safe in your street because the streetlight outside your house has broken, or gangs congregate outside your home at night. There’s also a facility for you to make suggestions on how to tackle any problems. We can also use the website to promote community safety initiatives taking place across the borough. www.direct.gov.uk/saferstreets
Guidelines
Log onto system. / 3 options available click on Solihull / .Put Post Code in the oblong box and hit return. / When your street comes up single click, box comes up saying add a pin, highlight which pin you want then click the orange add button, then fill out the form which will appear on the screen with as much or as little information as you see fit, / scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the submit button/This will put the pin on the map. Each evening this information will be downloaded and evaluated.
Please DO NOT report crimes or criminal activity on this website .All criminal activity should be reported via the 0845 1135000 or as always in an emergency please dial 999.
Celia Davies, Community Partnership Officer, West Midlands Police
MERIDEN PARISH COUNCIL
Tenders are invited for Contracts to be awarded for the forthcoming financial year 1st April 2010 - 31st March 2010.
If you are interested in tendering for any of the following 6 Contracts please supply information to Clerk, Mrs J Hall, 111 Fillongley Road, Meriden, CV7 7LW by Monday 7th December 2009 marking the envelope TENDER.
CONTRACT
Playing Fields
1 - April 1st 2010 - 31st March 2011
April to October. (Subject to weather conditions).
• To weekly pick litter and cut grass.
• To weekly empty bins.
• To remove the glass from the tennis courts when requested
Rate / hour Between November and March
• To weekly pick litter
• To weekly empty bins.
• To clear and cut weeds round the edge of the field and ditches, once.
• To cut the inside of the hedge, once. The Green April to October. (Subject to weather conditions).
• To weekly collect litter both on the green and under the fir tree on the green, cut grass and trim.
• To annually fertilize.
Planting
• Summer planting of trough arrangements around village (28) and watering through season.
• Winter planting of troughs around village (28).
• To maintain garden around Meriden Cross and supply of summer and winter planting. Allotments - Leys Lane Between November and March
• To cut hedge on Leys Lane, once.
Fir Trees – Fillongley Road
• To litter pick under the trees when requested Rate / hour
CONTRACT 2 - April 1st 2010 - 31st March 2011
Playing Fields
• Clean around Play Equipment and Buildings/Field at Maxstoke Lane weekly. Monthly Rate
CONTRACT 3 - April 1st 2010 - 31st March 2011
Bus Shelters
• To clear litter and sweep weekly.
• To remove any graffiti weekly.
• Notify Clerk of any problems with Shelters.
Monthly Rate
• To wet wash when requested. Rate
CONTRACT 4 - April 1st 2010 - 31st March 2011
Bus Shelters
• To repair Bus Shelters (10) and paint, as and when requested (Excluding materials). Rate / hour
CONTRACT 5 - April 1st 2010 - 31st March 2011
Benches and Notice boards
• To maintain and treat benches (20) and notice boards (5).
CONTRACT 6 – April 1st 2010 – 31st March 2011
Red Phone Kiosk – Albert Road, Millisons’ Wood
Rate / hour
• To repair/clean kiosk (1) and paint, as and when requested (excluding materials) Rate/hour
N.B.
All persons submitting tenders must:
1) Provide own tools and equipment for Contracts.
2) Accept responsibility for all Health and Safety issues involved with the Contracts.
You are also invited to register with the Parish Council for emergency / essential maintenance contracts, such as painting, cleaning or repair work. If you are interested please supply information to Clerk.
W Whhaat t h haappppeenns s n neexxtt? ?
In October, Meriden Parish Council formally adopted the Meriden Parish Plan produced by the Parish Plan Steering Group under the direction of its chair, Iain Roxburgh. The steering group worked in partnership with Solihull Council, Solihull Partnership, Solihull Care Trust, Solihull NHS Primary Care Trust, in particular Meriden and Balsall Common Surgeries, Meriden Primary School, West Midlands Police, and Warwickshire Rural Community Council. All the partners have promised to meet again with the steering group in March 2010 to review the progress of the action plan.
So what happens next? The action plan determines this; it contains specific timescales, action points and partner responsibility ranked by importance and priority. Delivering the action plan is entirely reliant on the help and support of the steering group volunteers but they need more volunteers to come forward. If you have a particular area of interest in the future of Meriden Parish, consider which of the nine themes below you might like to contribute to. They are:
• Population, housing, development and the Green Belt
• Children and young people
• Older people and relations between the generations
• Health and social care
• Travel, transport and road safety
• The environment
• Community safety and policing
• Local services and facilities
• Community
If you would like to volunteer please contact Iain Roxburgh on 01676 522496 or email him at IainRoxburgh@btinternet.com. Meriden Parish Plan 2009 was distributed to all households in November. If you would like another copy, Meriden Library and Blitz Beauty Salon have them in stock.
On 14 October, a prime example of partnership work to deliver the action plan was conducted at the Meriden Duck Pond. Under the theme of the environment, this project involved Solihull Council, Meriden Parish Council, Meriden Primary School, npower and Enterprise. From Solihull Council, Susan East, Meriden’s Neighbourhood Co-ordinator worked alongside Trish Willetts, Environment Champions Co-ordinator, Lorna Teager, Streetcare Officer, and Neil Cameron, Park Ranger. Meriden Primary School’s Eco Club built bird boxes with the help of the park rangers who fixed them to the trees. The children also planted spring flowering bulbs on the site. npower’s finance department worked with Solihull Council to clear up the site, paint the benches and bins and install the wild fowl information board. Enterprise volunteered their services for free and collected all the garden waste and rubble that had accumulated during the clean up. During the day Cabinet Member, Councillor Kate Wild, The Mayor of Solihull, Norman Davies, Parish Chair Rosie Weaver, Parish Clerk Julie Hall, Parish Councillor Melanie Lee and Steering Group Chair Iain Roxburgh joined them. You can view all the photos taken on the day on the parish blog www.meridenparishcouncil.blogspot.com.
Another example was the start of Community Speed Watch, which has taken place since 15 October. There have been many instances of speeding over 50mph recorded by the volunteers. There will be another chance to volunteer for this, as more people are needed. The next training session will take place in January and the exact date will be advertised on the parish website www.meridenparishcouncil.org.uk.
Congratulations to Barbara Magson winner of last times competition: £100 worth of cleaning from Dream Team Cleaning Solutions
Spring into 2010 with Marston Green & District Lions Club!
With Christmas only a few weeks away, why not put the 6th March 2010 in next year’s diary now! Then read on to find out what you could be enjoying on that evening You won’t need to travel far, just to the
Strawberry Bank Hotel in Meriden
for our Spring Ball, which is in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society. During the evening you will be able to enjoy a four-course meal with live Cabaret to follow. You will also have the opportunity to try your luck at our Giant Tombola or bid for an item on the Silent Auction. And if you can’t face the journey home, reduced room rates are available by booking directly with the hotel.
This will be our 12th Annual Dinner Dance and it is priced at just £32 per person. Please tell your friends and family about it and come along to help us to raise lots of money for this very worthy cause.
For more details and tickets please contact David Jackson on 0121 770 0223.
homes in Meriden, Hampton, Solihull, Balsall Common, Henley & Leamington Spa
Picture Framer
Calvin Home Workshop
279 Kenilworth Road
Balsall Common
Wednesday-Thursday-Friday & Saturday
10.00am thru to 5.00pm
Needleworks – Prints - Photos
Medals - Artworks
Mirrors available and framed
01676 544562
Meriden Mums and Toddlers Group
Meriden Methodist Church Hall Tuesdays 9.30-11.30am
Craft activities, healthy snacks, outdoor play, cup of tea and chat for Mums and carers
£1.50afamilyandfirstsessionfree
Contact 07921 766882 for more details
Heart of England
Property
Maintenance
Plumbing
Carpentry
General Maintenance
Painting & Decorating
Contact Paul Morgan on 01676 542885 07917 692948 mobile
All aspects of Beauty Therapy to include; Manicures, Pedicures, Waxing,
Eye Eye treatment, Facials, Caci facials and body treatments, microdermabrasion , massages, Hopi Ear ls, Caci facials and body treatments, microdermabrasion , massages, Hopi Ear ls, microdermabrasion , massages, Candles, Reflexology, Gel Nail Extensions, Body Wraps, Hot Stone Massage, Spray Tanning and Candles, Reflexology, Gel Nail Extensions, Body Wraps, Hot Stone Massage, Spray Tanning and Nail Extensions, Body Wraps, Stone Massage, Tanning and Nail Extensions, Body Wraps, Stone Massage, Tanning and Vertical Sun bed. Vertical
Clinics available for Restylane, Muscle relaxing injections and Teeth whitening Also the home of Blitz the Bulge slimming club!!
Our last event, the Ladies Night at Strawberry Bank Hotel was financially very successful. We raised £1,400, which will go, towards our yearly total. We would like to thank Susie and Eloy Marin the owners at Strawberry Bank for allowing us to have the Meriden and Garden Suites free of charge. Also thanks to Lorena Dyer who gave her time freely to demonstrate flower arranging. As usual she was very artistic and amusing. We also enjoyed an Aloe Vera demonstration and a comedienne called Gabriella. It was a great evening and we thank everyone who supported us. We have recently been collecting outside Morrison’s at the Alvis Centre, Coventry and have quite enjoyed ourselves! We found everyone to be friendly, chatty and generous too! Over all the Meriden Committee has raised £300,000, which has been sent to the National Account. Many people have raised this money over several years but the current committee are very pleased with our efforts. A certificate will be presented to us at our Christmas Event, on 27th November hope to see you there. Mary Warr.
Friday 27th November. Traditional Jazz Night
At the Heart of England Social Club, 8.00pm.
The Dene River Jazzmen will entertain us Tickets £6 including sherry and mince pies. are available from the club or 522160 & 522702
Mrs. Grace Tuckey being presented with a certificate of appreciation by Jan West of Cancer Research UK for her 40 years of fund raising with the Meriden Volunteers.
New climbing frame success
The new climbing frame is simply fantastic! Our grandchildren had a great time when they were staying with us in the summer testing it out. In past years we have always gone to Balsall Common Play Park or even further afield but this year Meriden had something challenging to offer them as you can see from the photo. We understand the children at Meriden School chose this climbing frame after being consulted. We hope many of them enjoyed playing on it also. Thank you to the children for their excellent choice and to the Parish Council for deciding to improve the facilities on the old playing field site even though it may be short term. Hopefully it can be re-used on the new site.
Tessa and Iain Roxburgh
On behalf on the Village we would like to congratulate Mary Warr and her team for reaching the magnificent sum of £300,000
Art Classes
Weekly drawing and painting classes with Julie Hyde start again January
Tues January 12th Old Arley
Thurs January 14th
For availability please contact Julie on 01676 523357
1.00 - 3.00
Cyclesolihull has been busy organising Community Cycle Rides over the summer with over 1000 riders taking part so far during 2009. The rides are open to everyone – to join in you just turn up at the start point with a roadworthy bike. There are rides of different lengths but all have a refreshment stop of about 30 minutes. The starting points of the autumn and winter rides are shown below and the programme includes a ride from Meriden on Sunday 24 January. Full details of all the rides and routes can be found at www.cyclesolihull.org.uk. Stephen Holt, ride coordinator
Tess, she’s a real mess, She’s like a box of tasty Roses Chocolates. You can pull one out And it will always be a different flavour, There’s ‘excited’, ‘happy’ and ‘giggly’ But there’s also ‘sad’, ‘angry’ and ‘unneeded’.
Tess tastes like the most scrumptious Thing that you’ve ever tasted. Once you’ve eaten one You’ll become addicted!
But sometimes when you unwrap The golden shining wrapping It has already melted And is too hard to scoop up And eat.
Sometimes Tess stays in the Dark, and will not come out, But when she comes out, She’s a firework of fun!
By Hattie Osmond Year5MeridenSchool
Warehousing & Distribution
4
14
20
Village Diary
Kingsbury Water Park
Out and About this winter
Is situated at Bodymoor Heath approximately 10 miles from Meriden and is open in the winter from 8.00am to 4.00pm. There is so much to see and do at Warwickshire's premier waterside attraction! Kingsbury Water Park has 15 lakes situated in over 600 acres of country park. Stroll along the surfaced paths, explore hidden corners, spot birds and wildlife, hire a bike, join an organised ev event. Whatever your idea of a countryside visit is, you will find it at Kingsbury.
There is a Children’s Farm at Broomy Croft and a play area at Far Leys within the park. The information centre is open every day except Christmas Day For more details phone 01827 872660
Knowle and Dorridge Lions Festive Walk
Monday December 28th 10.00am
Knowle and Dorridge Lions have started another year of fundraising by announcing their nominated charities for the next year – the Teenage Cancer Trust, Parkinson’s Disease Society and fly2help who will benefit from the Lions Festive Walk, Knowle Fun Run and Easter Egg Raffles.
The Festive Walk takes place on bank holiday Monday 28th December from Baddesley Clinton National Trust House offering walkers the choice of 4, 7 or 10 mile well signposted, routes across some of the most beautiful Warwickshire countryside.
‘Not only do walkers get the opportunity of walking off some of their Christmas excesses, they can get the extra satisfaction of supporting some really worthwhile charities,’ says organiser Simon Newell. ‘We are delighted to confirm that with help of various sponsors all the costs of the event have been covered and therefore every pound raised or donated by the walkers will go to the charities, with 30% retained for local causes.’
The Lions hope that everyone will commit to taking part now and bring along friends and family and go online to register free at www.KnowleandDorridgeLions.com/Walk
Aston Hall by candlelight 3rd - 12th December
See Aston Hall lit by over 300 candles and experience a Victorian household preparing for Christmas
Closed Monday 7th December
Timed admission tickets from 6.00pm-9.00pm.
To book phone 0121 303 2323
Christmas Pantomimes and Shows
Cinderella Solihull Arts Complex
11th December- 10th January 0121 704 6962
Beauty and the Beast Belgrade Theatre Coventry 30th November –9th January
Sleeping Beauty Birmingham Hippodrome
19th December – 31st January 0870 730 1234
Cinderella Warwick Arts Centre 28th November -3rd January
Snow Dragon WAC studio 024 7652 4524
Disney’s High School Musical 2
Alexandra Theatre Birmingham 8th December –2nd January 0870 607 7533
Queries to Dave Carter 01564 770749
Centre Stage Present Beauty and the beast
by James barry
At Heart of England School
Balsall Common
A traditional pantomime suitable for all ages A traditional pantomime suitable for all ages traditional suitable for all ages traditional suitable for all ages
Friday January 22nd 7.30pm
Saturday January 23rd 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Friday January 29th 7.30pm
Saturday January 30th 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Tickets £6 and £4 (concessions) from Box Office 01676 532475 or in person from Heart of England School on Thursday evenings between 8pm to 9.00pm
Meriden Tree of Thought
By the time you read this our tree should be in place and, I hope, giving pleasure to all who see it. As ever we will be able to dedicate a light to those who are no longer with us or just far away at this time, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support (261017). Dedication forms will be available from:Meriden Tea Rooms, Spar Shop, NewsExpress, Lloyds, Bull’s Head and Blitz.
Once again our local organisations have shown their wonderful support. I have already received donations from: - the Earl and Countess of Aylesford, De Mulder Enterprises, Pertemps, Cassidy developments, Groundwork Cov & Warks, B.D.W.Trading Ltd and the Centre of England Charity shop. Also through the good offices of Julian Ranson (Centre manager), Liz Spencer and Jack I have received an excellent donation from Notcutts of Shirley. This money was raised in their wishing well. How appropriate is that when we are all WISHING WELL to so many local people who are affected by cancer? Kimberley & Co, have yet again, prepared the accounts without charge and my good friend, John Sleath of The Job Squad, gave his time to update the lighting system.
To all those mentioned above I give my sincere thanks. I hope we will see many of you at the dedication at 4.00pm on Friday 27th November, and I truly hope you will all have the very best possible Christmas and New Year.
Thank-you again Alan Lole
Reminder!! Deadline date for the spring issue (Out by 1st March) Monday 1st February 2010
Val Martin 174 Main Road, Meriden 01676 522963
val.simon@virgin.net
Margaret Argyle 3 The Croft, Meriden 01676 522453
margarete.argyle@googlemail.com
Treasurer: Adele Fox 16 James Dawson Drive Meriden
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Recommended last UK and International posting dates before Christmas (As supplied by Royal Mail)
International Airmail 4th December South and Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (except Japan), Australia and New Zealand 10th December USA, Canada, Japan and Eastern Europe 11th December Western Europe
UK last posting dates
18th December Second Class 21st December First Class 23rd December Special Delivery
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