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TheVillage March 2019

villageonline.co.uk

NEWS & FEATURES from Alvechurch, Barnt Green, Blackwell, Burcot Cofton Hackett, Finstall, Hopwood, Bordesley, Rowney Green, Lickey Lickey End, Marlbrook, The Oakalls . . . and everywhere in between!

inside

TheVillage

Issue 199 March 2019

Bringing you village life for more than 20 years

Independents’ Day? Page 5

Tip Plot Thickens Pages 24–26

Editorial: Editor: Sally Oldaker Publisher: Richard Peach The Limes Alvechurch Worcestershire B48 7RR

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Cool in the Kitchen Pages 28–29

Tel: 0121 445 6757 email: news@villageonline.co.uk

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Telling Their Tales Pages 36–37

Call Louise Robinson:

0121 445 6757 email:

louise@villageonline.co.uk

visit: villageonline.co.uk The Village (ISSN 1466-3376) is published by Platform Publishing & Media Ltd (Reg Office: 87 Hewell Rd, Barnt Green, B45 8NL) and printed by Buxton Press in Derbyshire. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written consent is prohibited. The publishers do not accept responsibility for any errors made in advertisements or for claims made by any advertisers which are incorrect. The publishers reserve the right to refuse advertising for any reason. All material submitted for publication is done so at the owner’s risk and no responsibility is accepted by the publisher for its return.

Unbeaten Run Pages 42–43

Green and Growing Pages 50–52

Cover: An oak tree soaks up spring sunshine at Hopwood, pictured by reader Dennis Brown.

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Village News

Independents’ day?

Time for change: The seven current independent councillors are joined by other hopefuls for the May local elections.

ith local election campaigning about to begin, independent hopefuls in Bromsgrove are pooling ideas and experience as they push to change the face of local government. Decrying party politics as failing to provide the best service for local people, they told The Village theirs was an alliance, not a party, and if elected as councillors no one would ever be told how to vote. They say the party “whipping” system, where councillors are told to approve what the leadership has already decided, means local government fails to work in the interests of the people they represent – and who are paying the council tax bills. It will take only a shift of two seats away from the current controlling Conservatives to bring what the independents say will be positive changes for the people of this area. There are currently seven “independents’ alliance” councillors across Bromsgrove district, including the representative for the Barnt Green & Hopwood Ward, Charlie Hotham, and for Alvechurch Village Ward, Kate Van Der Plank. There are two further independent councillors in Hagley and three Wythall Residents’ Association councillors who are part of the alliance. The 31-seat district then includes seven Labour members, with the remainder being Conservatives.

People not politics: (from left) Coun Kate Van Der Plank, Coun Charlie Hotham and prospective candidate Annette English. Coun Hotham told The Village: “We would hope to work with both Labour and Conservative for the overall benefit of Bromsgrove residents. “At present the council operates a cabinet system which vests very significant unaccountable power in the cabinet member. “A more democratic system is the committee route, which is currently used at Worcester City Council where no overall control exists. Each group has a committee chair rather than a cabinet position, and the others have a proportionate number of members. “So planning policy, for example, would be established by a cross-party committee and, hence, there would be far more accountability.” Coun Van Der Plank said: “We would like to see the Conservative majority overturned as it’s so damag-

ing and has resulted in some really poor decisions, poor performance and complacency over recent years. “When one party has overall control – regardless of which party that is – it stifles any kind of constructive debate or challenge. “If we can grow the independent group by just a few seats, we can really transform the way this council operates. It will force proper debate which will result in better decisionmaking. “It will drive more collaboration as all groups would need to work together to drive change. And ultimately, it will ensure the best use of tax-payers’ money – which can only be a good thing for our electorate in these current austere times.” A number of prospective candidates are planning to stand for election as independents, including Annette English in the Alvechurch South Ward, in which she lives. She has been an active member of the Alvechurch community for many years, from teaching at the Middle School, to chairing the Alvechurch Alight committee, being part of the Alvechurch samba band, sitting on the Village Hall Committee and helping to produce many plays as part of the Alvechurch Dramatic Society. The elections to Bromsgrove District Council are due to take place on May 2. A Conservative view: See Page 16 The Village

March 2019

Village News

Last-minute lorry stop

romsgrove District Council served a temporary stop notice on lorry activity at Marlbrook Tip – just one hour before the latest, long-awaited meeting in the tip saga was due to begin. Neither the council nor the Environment Agency, which assumed responsibility for the site in 2014 under the Reservoirs Act, could explain why the action had only been taken that morning instead of months earlier

when residents reported that lorry movements had started afresh. The meeting was a fractious affair, with “long-suffering” residents berating both agencies for their inaction. The situation was later discussed by Lickey & Blackwell Parish Council, whose clerk, Lisa Winterbourn, reported that Bromsgrove had been “very defensive and on the back foot.” Coun Jill Harvey said, “It’s like Groundhog Day – it’s unbelievable

that nobody is monitoring this. The EA is so secretive, and they are all blaming each other instead of talking properly. “The tip owners did miserably on self-monitoring last time; how can we allow them to do it again?” Resident Roy Hughes added that “Bromsgrove wouldn’t accept that we were right and they were wrong.” A full report from the tip working group appears on Pages 24–26.

News Round-Up

the time you read this, Severn Trent should have finished digging “trial holes” in Hewell Road, Barnt Green, in preparation for replacing the water main in the summer holidays. The trial was to determine whether or not contractors could “slip-line” the pipe – if so, there may be no need for a total road closure while the work takes place.

After

speed monitoring on Mearse Lane and Twatling Road, district councillor Kit Taylor told Lickey & Blackwell Parish Council that although residents have a perception that drivers are speeding, the average speeds recorded were “within tolerance levels” so Highways did not consider it an official problem.

Speed

was also on the agenda for Alvechurch Parish Council, which heard that the A441 in Hopwood still does not meet the Safer Roads Partnership’s criteria for a fixed speed camera. Other ideas were being discussed, with a possibility of requesting cash from the Police & Crime Commissioner’s fund.

Parish

councillors in Alvechurch voted to increase the precept – the part of the council tax that goes to the parish – by five per cent after a heated debate. Barnt Green Parish Council decided to leave their precept as it is.

The Village

March 2019

ALL CHANGE: Out-going Barnt Green parish clerk Gill Lungley (right) hands over the reins to her successor, Tracy Bodley. Gill, who had been at Barnt Green since 2015, has now moved back to Alvechurch Parish Council – where she previously served as clerk for 10 years – to join Tammy Williams and Claire Mason as supporting officer.

New

“indestructible” bollards that bounce back into place if hit by a vehicle could be installed throughout Alvechurch thanks to county council cash – but one parish councillor raised concerns over their construction. “Just how springy are they? What if a little old lady leans on one and gets catapulted?” asked Coun Adrian Smith.

did not have flotation devices nearby. They agreed to ask CALA Homes for a copy of its risk assessment.

Green parish councillors debated the potential risks of the balancing pond at the bottom of the Foxhills development. The pond currently has a wooden fence, but Coun Phil Perry was concerned that children could still get through it, while Coun Harrison Rone-Clarke added that the pond

The

Barnt

A group

of mums from Hopwood have received a grant of £10,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund, boosting their fundraising for new play equipment at Hopwood Community Centre. Oakalls & Parklands Community Events Association is to hold its Annual Litter Pick as part of the Great British Spring Clean. An exact date has yet to be decided, but full details will be published in the next edition of The Village, and on the Oakalls notice board and website.

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Village News

‘Promising’ path ideas T

he latest developments on the rail crossing diversion in Blackwell look “promising and optimistic”, Lickey & Blackwell parish councillors heard. Coun Janet King told colleagues that she had met Richard Clewer from the county council’s Highways department and Richard Dugdale from Network Rail, and it was agreed that the diversion route should run along the inside of the hedge on

Blackwell Road. However, Blackwell Golf Club, whose land would be crossed by the diversion, did not send a representative to the meeting. Mr Dugdale had agreed to speak to them. n Barnt Green Parish Council is still pressing West Midlands Trains for extra signage at the railway station. Parish chairman Robert Cholmondeley reported that he had made a site visit with the new station

manager, Jonathan Rutland. “He said there may not be any cables in place to install digital screens on Platform 1, but that’s just making excuses,” said Coun Cholmondeley. “I deliberately held the meeting at a time when he would witness the problems, and about eight people were wandering about, asking which platform to use. Mr Rutland said he did realise the shortcomings and would raise them with his manager.”

Time to have your say on plan

A public consultation on the joint Lickey & Blackwell and Cofton Hackett Neighbourhood Development Plan will run until March 29, and residents are encouraged to view the document and give feedback before the Plan goes to an independent examination. The Plan and its supporting documents can be viewed at www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/lbchnp, www.lickeyandblackwellpc.org or www.coftonhackettpc.org, or as hard copies (during opening hours) at Bromsgrove Library. You can also download a comments form, which should be sent to strategicplanning@ bromsgroveandredditch.gov.uk

Barrier brouhaha Alvechurch parish councillors heard that an ambulance attending Meadow Lane was unable to turn around due to the barrier to The Meadows being closed – but all was not as it seemed on social media, said chairman Andy Humphries. “The ambulance was at the Red Lion Street end but the driver chose, or was badly advised, to continue down the lane and got into difficulties,” he reported. Some councillors wanted a discussion on opening the barrier, but the council’s constitution prevented this as it was less than six months since they voted to leave it closed.

The Village

March 2019

n CELEBRATION TIME: Members of the Alvechurch Neighbourhood Plan steering group, past and present, toast the successful public approval of the plan with a gathering at The Weighbridge pub.

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Village News

Village’s ‘fallen angel’

ollowing complaints over the cutting down of the village Christmas tree in November, two further festive mishaps befell Barnt Green, councillors heard. Parish clerk Gill Lungley reported that a lorry had bashed into and damaged one of the Christmas lights designed by village school pupils, leading councillors to dub it “the fallen angel”. If it was not repairable, another design competition may be arranged with the school. Meanwhile, a “Find Santa and his Helpers” shop window trail also ended in disarray when one of the reindeer, Prancer, went “missing in action”. “People couldn’t fully complete the trail, but the ones who did their best won a prize anyway.” Parish chairman Robert Cholmondeley agreed that it was “not very good timing” to remove the tree just before Christmas, and asked for ideas to make the remaining trees stand out in 2019.

The Village

March 2019

Members of Alvechurch Border Morris present a cheque for £208 to Redditch Nightstop, which provides accommodation and support to young people at risk of experiencing homelessness. The money was raised via a collection taken by the Morris dancers on New Year’s Day in Alvechurch. n We’re always keen to hear about your fundraising events – get in touch via the addresses on Page 3.

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On course for bright future K

ings Norton Golf Club is bucking the trend of golf clubs cutting budgets by investing more than £600,000 in its course. The club, at Weatheroak Hill, Alvechurch, has spent more than £360,000 alone on machinery to improve and maintain its 27 holes. And after one of the hottest and driest summers on record last year, the club is also investing £58,000 in a brand-new greens irrigation system. And in a move particularly popular with members and visitors, the club is spending £190,000 over the next three years remodelling and improving all of the 85 bunkers. This includes relining and replacing the sand with around 300 tons of China Grey and rebuilding the bunker faces with layers of turf in a classic “revetted” style (right). Since the appointment of their new course manager, Neill Smith, last August the course at Kings Norton has seen a rapid transformation, quickly gaining a reputation as one of the best conditioned golf courses in the Midlands. Neill has overseen the investment in a brand-new fleet of 12 Toro greens machines, including two Greens Tri Flex Mowers, two Greens Pro Rollers, a Pro Core Coring Machine, a Top Dresser, a Multi Spray Turf Sprayer and two Workman MDX Utility Vehicles alongside enhanced staff training. Kings Norton has also appointed Steve Dougan, PGA Fellow Professional and experienced club manager to oversee the day-to-day operations at the club. Steve will be working closely with the board of directors, course manager, head professional and caterers to grow and improve all aspects of the business as well as members’ and guests’ experience at the club. With one of the best value memberships on offer, including low-cost payment terms, no joining fees, 27 holes of Championship Golf, a Par 3 academy course and extensive practice facilities, Kings Norton is definitely the club to join in 2019. Add to all of this the magnificent Grade II listed Clubhouse that is Weatheroak Hall, where members, visitors and guests are well served by excellent new caterers David and Tilly Guest, the club is in a great position to move forward on all fronts.

The Village

March 2019

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eila Loves Design is an interior design business based in Barnt Green. The founder, Samantha Chorley, has created a concept that allows everyone access to a simple and affordable interior design service. Her schemes aim to ensure homes are functional and attractive by taking the client’s individual taste and bringing out the personality of a home. ”There is plenty of inspiration for interior design on TV shows and in magazines, but many people struggle with the vision, time and budget needed to make their ideas a reality,” says Samantha. Samantha appreciates that homeowners engage an interior design service for a number of different reasons and therefore she offers a range of services that she believes covers all eventualities. These include:

A Traditional Managed Design Service Leila Loves Design offers a traditional bespoke interior design service to residential property owners, offering consultancy, brief, concept, and delivery on every project. An Online Design Package The renowned “Reinvention in a Box” online concept now offers homeowners a simple and affordable way to achieve a beautiful home. The online design service saves clients both money and time by creating bespoke boxes that contain all the ideas and tools necessary to start the transformation at your own pace.

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Each box contains a 3D image of how your room could look, fabric swatches and paint samples, a mood board, furniture ideas, and a simple floor plan suggesting where to place everything. There’s also a memory stick with links to all the suppliers’ websites, making it easy to find and purchase the items you need – and complete the project in your own time. A Unique Property Reinvention Solution Leila Loves Design offers its services to property developers and estate agents, and has forged a successful partnership with Barnt Green’s very own Arden Estates. The designs show potential buyers a vision of how their home could look. The images increase online traffic to create more viewings, and help entice more potential buyers to view a house and commit to the purchase, reducing the instructionto-completion time. To find out more about unlocking your home’s potential, call 0121 413 3801 or email enquiries@ leilalovesdesign.com to arrange a free phone consultation. You can see more design inspiration on the website: www.leilalovesdesign.com or alternatively if you are an estate agent or developer, visit www. propertymarketingreinvented.com The Village

March 2019

Village Election Focus

Hoping for your vote Neil Harris, a village Conservative hopeful in May’s local elections, explains why he – and his party – should be given a chance . . .

Around Birmingham and the Black Country there are a huge number of potential housing sites and Bromsgrove needs to play its part in those discussions making the arguments to make policies that local people want.

As a professional in the field, what did you think of the Hearn report suggesting 15,000 homes between Alvechurch and Barnt Green? And do you think the Conservative group should have pushed, as they did, to have it included in the current District Local Plan consultation?

Tell us a little about yourself: I live in Rowney Green, where I have lived for more than 20 years, raising four daughters, and I have lived in the district throughout my life. I was a member of the steering committee for the original Alvechurch Village Design Statement and have been a school governor in the village. I am very much a person with their roots in North East Worcestershire.

What made you decide to stand for Alvechurch Village ward on Bromsgrove District Council? It seems like the “right time”, what with the adoption of the Alvechurch Parish Neighbourhood Plan and the pressure on the Green Belt around the village, to step forward and offer to best represent the village with the knowledge and skills that I have.

The independent candidate beat the Tories with more than 50% of the vote (compared with 33%) in Alvechurch Village Ward less than two years ago. Do you think people are more or less likely to vote Conservative now? The decision will rest with the people of the village; a good debate and giving people choices is what matters. 2019 is a new moment and we go forward from here – a lot has changed in two years.

If elected, what would you do when told to vote along party lines, when you know it is not how the people in Alvechurch Village Ward would want you to vote?

The Village

March 2019

Experience: Neil Harris is a founding director of property Harris Lamb. I would expect that my experience and skills from business plus local knowledge would be helping to make the policies that the people of Alvechurch will want.

As someone with a particularly good professional knowledge of how developers work, and having been involved in the creation of an earlier version of the Alvechurch Village Design Statement, how do you see the threat to the Green Belt around Alvechurch and across the wider Village area? The threat to the Green Belt around Alvechurch is very real but there is a danger of being alarmist about it too. There are far more sustainable and deliverable sites to accommodate larger scale housing need than there are around Alvechurch. What it needs is someone to explain that.

Should Bromsgrove be doing more to resist the threat of housing from Birmingham, especially when the city is refusing to build on its own green spaces? Bromsgrove needs to make its case.

A difficult question to answer in a nutshell, however, the Hearn report probably wasn’t a very helpful document but it has started the debate. The Hearn report is most likely already outdated; there is a need for the case to be made for what local people want, now.

If elected, and if the Conservatives manage to hold on to a majority at Bromsgrove, how do you think you can bring change to make the council as a whole more effective on behalf of the people for whom it is supposed to be working? My working life has been spent building alliances and helping to “make things happen”. I would hope to bring those skills to bear to work for the people of Alvechurch.

Do you think a unitary authority could be a good way forward? Parts of what a unitary authority would bring may be excellent things to take us forward, things like shared services, purchasing, and marketing. However, what a unitary authority may not be so good at is ensuring that local voices, opinions and preferences are properly heard. Local democracy cannot suffer; this is something we in Alvechurch should appreciate as much as anyone.

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Seasonal cleaners required from mid-March – working on our marina as part of our small friendly Housekeeping and Marina team to maintain the best possible standard of cleanliness for our customers on our luxury canal boats. The boats have to be turned around in a short period of time providing a challenging and rewarding role for someone who has an eye for detail and loves everything to be just right. Seasonal part-time work which includes weekend working.

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Could you deliver TheVillage ?

We pay pretty well, it’s quite an easy magazine to get through letterboxes and, being monthly, it’s not too big a commitment. You need to be aged 13 to 18 and have an email address, a bank account and somewhere dry where we can drop off the magazines. Openings are likely later in the year as some of our current crew head off to university or proper jobs :) And if this came through your door, you’re in our area. For more information, call Louise on 0121 445 6757 or email: louise@villageonline.co.uk The Village

March 2019

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The Village

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The Village

March 2019

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Village VillageViews Views

Create hedges to attra Dear Editor – I write in response to the letter Where have all the small birds gone? in your January magazine. Firstly, I must congratulate Mr Page. He has a resident hedgehog. That is wonderful news! He has installed a home for hedgehogs and it has been “taken”. If he were to provide homes for the birds, they too would take up residence. Native hedges, such as hawthorn, blackthorn or holly, that are maintained as a dense shelter are ideal. Dense privet is also suitable. Birds are canny nest-builders and would build in thick, matted climbers, such as ivy and jasmine, and indeed anywhere where there is some support and overhead shelter from the weather. Food is required to encourage birds into gardens. Berried shrubs are a huge asset and during the summer, plants such as teasel and sunflower produce seed for the birds when winter comes. In fact, that prompts me to say don’t be too tidy in the garden. Leave some “rubbish” in which birds can find insects and use as “home building” material. A log pile will be visited frequently, and could be tucked away in an out of the way corner. Regarding feeding the birds with “bought” seed, peanuts, and fat (in various forms), a bird table will attract some birds, but it is my experience that a “natural” feeding station works wonderfully. I do not use a bird table at all

Have your say . . . about anything! 22

The Village

March 2019

Lawton’s View

these days, I have a couple of “unruly” blackthorn bushes and I hang bird feeders on that and on a nearby broom bush. Around these “feeding stations” are other shrubs on which the birds alight, before taking that last short flight to the feeders. They need to know that all is safe before they go to the food. I should be delighted to invite Mr Page to come and view my “set-up” from the warmth of our kitchen, and watch all the small birds that are regular visitors. We have regularly six goldfinches, great tits, coal tits, robins, blackbirds, and numerous blue tits, long-tailed tits, and sparrows. Occasionally we have bull finches, chaffinches, and wrens. Wood pigeons, magpies and squirrels also visit us. Mrs Pamela Chancellor, Lydiate Ash

Be thankful for hardworking bin collectors

Dear Editor – Further to a recent letter (Village Views, February 2019) I would like to thank all our hardworking bin collectors for their faithful and efficient service. They worked very hard over the Christmas period and some of us in Barnt Green had more bin collections than we needed. Many of us would have been sleeping peacefully in our beds when they emptied our grey bins on the Saturday before Christmas, as we usually put our bins out on the night before the collections are due. We should be very thankful that our bins continue to be emptied regularly, unlike the poor residents

email: editor@villageonline.co.uk

or write to: Letters, The Village, The Limes, Swan Street, Alvechurch B48 7RR Please include your name and address – even if you request them to be withheld from publication. We reserve the right to edit submissions for reasons of space or legality. The deadline for the next issue is March 15.

ct birds of central Birmingham where their bin collectors have been on strike at frequent intervals throughout the last year. Many of us will have seen videos of these Birmingham bins overflowing with bags and bags of rubbish, attracting rats and other hungry vermin. They have good reason to complain! Let’s try to look after our environment, use less plastic, recycle as much as possible and use our green bins more so that we don’t have to fill up our grey bins. Many thanks to all our hard-working council workers. Amanda Dauncey, Barnt Green

can you spot Vinny?

seven-year-old Reuben Mole, of Bromsgrove, was the latest winner of a Mini Vinny in our monthly competition. If you want to win one for yourself, you’ll need to try to locate the little hedgehog hiding somewhere in this magazine (the one shown above is just a guide!). Just tell us where he’s hiding via phone, email or post – please include your contact details, especially if leaving a voicemail message – and we’ll draw a winner at random. The closing date is midnight on the 18th of every month. We’ll let you know if you’ve won and you can collect your Mini Vinny from our office – and pose for a photo!

Bonfires bring air pollution

Dear Editor – This picture was taken on a Friday morning at 9am. All this talk about air pollution, yet as I write this bonfire has been burning for more than two hours and is still going. Smoke and fumes all over Alvechurch – why? In this day and age surely this is not necessary.

Whoever lit this fire has no consideration for anybody, especially people with chest problems. Michael Lewis, via email

More graffiti from ‘Tanksy’

Dear Editor – Following on from your item in the February issue (Green graffiti protest), here is some additional work (above) by the anonymous environmental artist. The military-style typeface is arguably apt since the green belt is about to become a battlefield. As the inferred armed forces link is perhaps our only clue to the identity of our own incognito artisan, I’d like to suggest we use the name “Tanksy”. Stephen Farley, Cofton Hackett

Bench makes beautiful sight

Dear Editor – I took the photo above while I was out on a run in Lickey Hills. I have a rule – never

stop when on a run – but I had to break that rule when I saw the sunlight streaming through the trees to bless the solitary park bench. I hope you enjoy the photo as much as I did seeing it. Paula Thomas, Lickey The Village

March 2019

Village News Focus

TheVillage View . . .

f there was a Top 10 of “You Couldn’t Make It Ups”, the Marlbrook Tip debacle would surely be a chart-topper. It has been going on for decades, long-suffering residents have been promised on a number of occasions that their “nightmare” is coming to an end . . . and yet . . . Does anyone remember March 2011, eight years ago, when the new head of planning at Bromsgrove District Council swept in and told villagers she was going to sort it all out? “I am personally on the case,” said Ruth Bamford. Oh, how easy it must have seemed back then. Although, considering the previous inaction by Bromsgrove District Council in already failing to prevent a hillside of waste material being tipped on the Lickeys, it was probably wishful thinking on behalf of a newly-arrived officer. Ms Bamford has, presumably, since discovered how things work at Bromsgrove – as had the Local Government Ombudsman in awarding a resident compensation against the council for ignoring villagers’ warnings about over-tipping for at least three years. It started off well with the commissioning of a survey of the Lickey hillside, published later in 2011, showing it was 1,000,000 cubic metres bigger than it should have been. Plenty of talking ensued, including how to make the tip owner remove all of the excess waste – although who would want another 75,000 lorries chugging up and down past their homes? – but very little actually happened. Then in 2014 the saga took a turn towards the absurd when the Environment Agency, which had been keeping a watching brief over the sorry affair, managed to become fully embroiled with the revelation that what by all accounts is a bit of a pond on the site was, in fact, a reservoir. You really couldn’t make it up. But worse was to come: now the whole site was under the jurisdiction of the Reservoirs Act and, upon inspection by a top engineer, it was decided the “reservoir” needed to be made safe – by another six months’ worth of lorries bringing loads of soil on to the site. What’s more, the “puddle” (as it has been described) was now considered a matter of national security, so much so that the engineer’s report had to be “redacted”, with words blacked out, just in case . . . well, in case of what? Years passed and nothing much, besides hand-wringing and excuses, happened – until the lorries began trundling back up the hill last autumn. Residents complained, but there was no sign of any action until, at 9am on January 25 2019, Bromsgrove issued a “temporary stop notice” – one hour before a meeting of the tip working group was due to begin. As that meeting revealed – and as we report it on these pages – it looks very much like the two authorities are not working in unison, creating a push-me-pull-you farce. “It is like Groundhog Day,” one Lickey parish councillor complained. But at least Groundhog Day was a work of fiction; unfortunately, The Saga of Marlbrook Tip is not made up and no one is prepared to come up with an ending.

The Village

March 2019

You really The latest chapter in the sorry saga of Marlbrook Tip sees laden lorries returning to the Green Belt beauty spot with full loads, yet the authorities charged with drawing it to a close appear to be nowhere near finding an ending and the story is beginning to repeat itself. We try to make sense of the latest plotlines . . .

he meeting of the Marlbrook Tip cross-party working group – the first since September 2017 – included parish, district and county councillors, residents, members of Lickey Community Group, and representatives of the Environment Agency (EA), which has responsibility for the site under the Reservoirs Act. Proceedings began with an update from Tony Deakin, Reservoir Safety Manager for the Environment Agency, who reported that the EA had carried out a site survey and shared the results with Liberty Construction, which owns the tip – and had also recovered the costs of the survey from Liberty. Mr Deakin also said that the EA had interviewed the tip’s owner under caution in July, to collect evidence as part of an ongoing process. He said that during the summer the EA had carried out a cost/risk analysis for several options – including seeking planning permission, carrying out the work required themselves, decommissioning the reservoir, or doing nothing. “We made another visit on December 7 with a geotechnical engineer and our panel engineer, and are awaiting their report. The initial findings are that the reservoir is still safe and no urgent action is needed.” Martin Quine, the EA’s Waste Team Leader for Worcestershire, added that he had also attended on December 7 to inspect waste that had been imported. “It was in line with the permit, apart from one load that contained contaminated material, small fragments of metal and plastic. We asked the permit holder to explain those issues, and there will be another inspection in six to eight weeks.” Resident Charlie Bateman asked whether consideration had been given to using some of the already

could not make it up overtipped material to complete the required work. Mr Deakin replied: “We have discussed this before. The restoration soil is required to cover up the clay. The site as it stands can’t be reshaped, as this could expose the core. It’s not an option.” Resident Roy Hughes asked why the owner had started bringing material on to the site, pointing out that lorries were going up and down the Old Birmingham Road with full loads. Mr Deakin responded that from the EA’s point of view, the owner was carrying out work required under the Reservoirs Act, but admitted that the owner had not provided a plan to show exactly what was being done. As the EA had stated that only soil and stones were permitted to be brought on site under the Act, residents wanted to know if anybody was checking the loads. Mr Quine said that the inspection report was public information, but that the EA had no concerns with the majority of waste currently on site. Mr Quine also told residents that the EA did not and could not inspect every load, the onus being on Liberty Construction to ensure compliance. “We look at the origin of the waste, and carry out announced and nonannounced inspections,” he said. “Each load is accompanied by a ‘duty of care transfer note’ stating origin and quantity. We also receive ‘waste returns’ from the company each quarter about the quantity imported.” The EA’s Regulatory Officer, Val Colman, told the meeting that the last time Liberty had been required to submit a return was in October 2018, prior to them beginning the importation of waste – the next was due at the end of January. She had made a request for more copies but had received nothing yet. Mr Quine admitted that the waste returns were produced by Liberty Construction, but said the EA would intervene if non-compliance was identified.

One resident asked: “Have you learned nothing?”, while another added: “With the history of noncompliance on this site, it surprises me that you are not monitoring the loads – I’d expect someone to be on site to ensure compliance.” Asked: “Who is checking the checkers?”, Mr Quine said: “We will check the companies where the waste comes from, as we deem appropriate, depending on what we see on site. Previously the site owners were under an old regime, and the current licence is a variation of the old licence under which they brought in material many years ago.” District councillor Charlie Hotham, present at the meeting as an observer, said: “The engineer said the site was stable with no need for remedial work, but you say the owner is bringing in material under the Act to benefit the reservoir – can you explain the contradictory positions?” Mr Deakin responded: “The topsoil is required. Our initial findings were that it’s safe to the point where we don’t need to intervene, but the work needs to be done to stop the dam deteriorating in future. I’m not saying it’s unsafe today.” Coun Hotham pressed: “But you must have an indication of how many loads are required to make it safe? You mention 68,000 tonnes – how much has already been done and how much

is still to come? And how will you know when the end point has been reached? You’re waiting four months between receipt of these notes.” Mr Deakin said that under the Act, Liberty Construction had to appoint a construction engineer, and it was that engineer who would sign off on the works and produce a final certificate. The EA confirmed that since the lorries carry 17-20 tonnes, it would mean roughly 3,500 to 4,000 lorryloads to achieve the 68,000 tonnes. Mike Adams, of the Lickey Community Group, asked if the EA had an audit process for the returns, and was informed that the EA looked at the waste on site visits and at the records provided by the customer, and calculated this against waste returns submitted to give an indication of whether the quality and quantity was in line with the permit. “Jurisdiction is with Liberty as part of their permit,” said Mr Quine. At this point, Kieron Finney, an environmental consultant working for Liberty, said: “I have written an environmental management system document and there are a lot of procedures that should be followed. Martin has said he’ll be on site in six to eight weeks but I think it needs to be earlier, as Liberty do need help to follow the systems.” Residents expressed concerns that

continues overleaf The Village

March 2019

Village News Focus continued from previous page a topographical survey due to be carried out at the end of the process might come too late to prevent overtipping, but the EA would not be drawn on what, if any, action would be taken if this were to be the case. District councillor Helen Jones (Catshill North) asked whether there was a maximum depth for the restoration material, since a minimum of 300mm had been specified. The EA replied that it depended on how Liberty decided to carry out the work: “They may follow the lie of the land, or try to re-profile and take out any bumps. If there’s a dip, it might need 500mm in that spot.” Ruth Bamford, Bromsgrove District Council’s Head of Planning & Regeneration, clarified that the owner was asked under the Act to import restoration material to a depth of 300mm across the site. “I am crystal clear that importation of that material needs planning permission, but this has not been sought so far,” she said. “Planning permission would give us, at local level, control of the amounts and the justification for doing it, especially in the green belt. A monitoring regime could address issues such as lorry movements.” She continued: “We have served a planning contravention notice, which asks questions like what’s going on and why, to get a feel of what’s happening, and also a temporary stop notice, as of 9am today – so if lorries came to site it would be at odds with this. “You may ask, why temporary and not permanent? The planning authority can’t discuss its next movements but we’re pondering, including liaison with the owner, the EA and relevant bodies.” District councillor Brian Cooper (Marlbrook) asked: “How can the EA allow tipping when no planning consent has been applied for? Surely the law should apply to everyone.” Mr Deakin responded: “We were informed by Liberty that they believed they had obtained all relevant permissions.”

The Village

March 2019

The water-filled hollow large enough to be classified as a reservoir. This caused considerable surprise among most present at the meeting. Ms Bamford continued: “The temporary stop notice lasts 28 days. After that, I’m not prepared to say. We are looking into what would be the appropriate thing to do next.” A resident asked, “If there is no planning permission at the moment, how can the waste management licence be valid?” Mr Quine said that the the two were not inextricably linked: “You can have an environment permit without planning permission, you can comply with the permit in breach of planning law. “The permit doesn’t override the need for planning permission – the owner has taken the active decision to import waste without obtaining it.” Mr Adams remarked: “The owner is doing exactly what he wants. Does the fact he hasn’t got planning permission mean no one is in control?” Ms Bamford replied: “I’m not a lawyer, but there are two sets of regimes in operation. Under reservoir legislation, the owner was asked to bring material. In another world over here, he has the planning regime to tackle. But he has to get planning permission to comply with what the Act is asking him to do.“ Mr Adams also wanted to know whether there was a time limit for moving the material, or a penalty for not doing so. Ms Bamford told him: “It could well be that under reservoir legislation there is a need to be doing something, but in my world he has not got planning permission, it’s that simple.

“I’ve asked him to stop temporarily, to give give chance for discussions and better understanding of what’s going on and why. The circle has to be squared to make sure the planning regime is complied with.” A Lickey resident said that he was astonished at the situation: “We’ve sat in all these meetings, and you know the strength of feeling among residents and you [BDC and the EA] are not even talking to each other; it’s laughable!” Coun Hotham said it seemed “a big coincidence” that the temporary stop notice had only come into force that very day. “What changed yesterday to make it relevant now, but not in October when I asked about it? “I’ve lost faith in the site engineer as the provision of planning permission was crucial – how could he not know it didn’t exist? Can we revoke the permit as the owner must be in breach?” Mr Deakin replied that there were no legal grounds to revoke the permit. Ms Bamford pointed out that the contravention notice was also important as it would help shape BDC’s next move. “If it ends up that tipping is not given permission, we’d have the reasons in place.” Resident Sue Hughes wondered: “If planning permission is denied, would the material brought in since October be removed?” Ms Bamford said this was unlikely as “it would not be in the public interest. We can’t take action just to make the public feel we’re doing something.” The EA added that if planning permission was denied, it would be appealed. Mr Deakin cited the safety of the site and reservoir: “Currently some clay is exposed, so vegetation could grow and water could seep out. It’s safe at the moment but I can’t say what will happen in future. We have to work together for a solution.” The meeting closed with a decision to hold the next one on March 21.

Village People

ver since I can remember I have loved food. I love eating it, cooking it, ordering it, shopping for it . . . talking about it! I’ve been cooking ever since the day I moved out of my parents’ home, aged 22. Little did I know how much cooking and food would eventually help me in my life, and now at the age of 38 I’m so grateful to be able to say that food not only helped me achieve some amazing new goals, but also helped me with a longterm condition, generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). My mum had always cooked for me and even when I left home she continued, normally by regularly “posting” bacon sandwiches through the front door (which in all honesty became slightly embarrassing when I had company). I knew at that point it was probably time to learn for myself, and I’ve been cooking ever since. However, something brilliant hap-

Keeping my Alvechurch villager Mike Rossiter-Eaglesfield tells how cooking has helped him to handle his anxiety so much that he’s currently starring on TV’s MasterChef.

pened as I began to learn to cook. I had suffered from GAD from my late teens, and had found it progressively getting worse in my 20s to where, at the height of my condition, it prevented me from leaving the house. But, as soon as I turned on the oven and started chopping, I felt a wave of calm and clarity come over me. Don’t get me wrong, I still suffered severely from GAD, but as long as I was in the kitchen cooking

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March 2019

and thinking about food, my panic seemed to be put on hold for a little while. Like most other people I know, I’ve always been an avid watcher of TV cookery programmes – pretty much nothing else graces my screen (apart from the odd Hammer House of Horror film). I’m, therefore, a massive fan of a lot of TV chefs, with my absolute hero being Rick Stein. I’ve watched

cool in TV kitchen

Above: Mike, who works in commercial insurance during the day and produces dishes like these away from the office.

everything he’s ever done, I own all his programmes on DVD, I have every book he has ever released and I have even downloaded the instrumental music from all his TV shows (to my wife’s annoyance). From my late teens when I began to suffer from GAD, his programmes were one of the only things that helped to calm me down. They inspired me to get up, get out of the house and travel, which previously I had really struggled with. Rick taught me that there was a beautiful world out there and because of him I fell in love with travel and food. I finally got to meet him in 2017 and I was so starstruck that all I could muster up, in a rather panicked voice, was: “Would you sign my arm?” I had intended on getting it tattooed on to me afterwards, but my wife, probably wisely, advised against it. I never actually got the chance to say thanks for all he had done for me. Fast forward to 2019, and I’ve found through cooking a confidence to push myself and to try new things – culminating in becoming a MasterChef contestant in the TV show’s 15th series. Never in my wildest dreams, at age 22 suffering severe panic attacks, would I have imagined I would be on TV doing something I absolutely adore. My wife and I have since begun a catering company called Canary & Kitchen, aiming to provide unique home-dining experiences to people in and around the local area. We’ve been lucky enough to have catered four different events in our first month, one of which was cooking for the Birmingham City Football Club Captain and his team mates. So, I suppose you never know what’s around the corner, and that’s pretty exciting! www.CanaryandKitchen.co.uk Email: CanaryandKitchen@gmail.com Instagram: @CanaryandKitchen The Village

March 2019

Village Events

waes Hael to all Muskets, Morris dancing and general merriment were the order of the day at the Alvechurch wassail.

Additional photography by Adrian Bigland

elfgythe Border Morris’s annual traditional Wassail was a huge success, writes Pam Morley. The evening started with dancing at The Crown pub, Withybed, where Aelfgythe were joined by Alvechurch Morris Men and Step on Board – an Appalachian dance group from Bromsgrove. They were also joined by John Bright’s Regiment of Foote from the English Civil War Society. The dancers, musketeers and audience were led in a torchlit procession through the village by the “Green Man”, who was an impressive sight with his costume and staff topped with a set of antlers! After arriving at The Weighbridge, the crowd were treated to a Wassail carol sung by Alvechurch Community Choir. The Green Man then explained the purpose of the Wassail and read out a poem written by Jennie Diplock, forewoman of Aelfgythe, with the crowd joining in the chorus.

The Village

March 2019

More pictures overleaf

The musketeers then fired their guns creating a spectacular sight of musket muzzle flash and gunsmoke, and the noise will surely have “woken the trees” from their mid-winter slumber. After the audience hung toast in the branches, the choir closed the Wassail with another traditional song. There was more dancing afterwards and it was a treat to watch Nancy Butterfly – a north-west clog dance side from Redditch. Aelfgythe would like to thank everyone involved in this event, the groups who attended and our supporters who helped to make the evening go so well, Jo and his team at The Crown and John and the staff of The Weighbridge. Thanks must also go to ABC Leisure for their kind sponsorship of the event. Next year’s Wassail will be held on February 1, 2020, so put the date in your calendar for another fantastic evening. Waes Hael to you all.

The Village

March 2019

Village Events

Above: Aelfgythe Border Morris. Right: Musical accompaniment for Alvechurch Border Morris. Below: The torchlit procession. Below right: Hanging toast in the trees.

The Village

March 2019

10 Years Ago From TheVillage archive

our march 2009 cover image was taken by photographer Gareth Thomas, whose pictures illustrated a new edition of AE Housman’s A Shropshire Lad for the poet’s 150th birthday. Inside was a feature on Housman.

September 2013 – the diggers arrive

IN THE NEWS: Work had begun to build the new Barnt Green Scout & Guide Hut, although fundraisers still needed an extra £170,000 to complete the project. In Alvechurch, lots in a charity auction included use of a “priceless” parking bay for the summer term at Crown Meadow First School.

members of Barnt Green Choral Society, gearing up for their spring concert, told The Village about the benefits of singing together, which the choir had been doing since 1951. Over in Alvechurch, a new community choir had formed, launched by US gospel and jazz singer Lillian Boutté during a UK visit. two village runners were preparing for the London Marathon, inspired by fatherin-law Roger Green (centre, with his guide dog Irvin) to raise funds for charities that help the blind. Andy Scarle (left), of Cofton Hackett, and Lee Lawrance, of Bromsgrove, were both members of Barnt Green Chuggers. The Village

March 2019

20 Years Ago From TheVillage archive

On the cover of the March 1999 edition was “horse healer” Caroline Pope (with her own horse, Rio), who was using a special method to train dysfunctional or dangerous animals at Bordesley stables.

September 2013 – the diggers arrive

IN THE NEWS: Hopwood Community Centre was considering banning dog groups after other users complained about dog hair and odours. Elsewhere, Barnt Green Social Club had completed a £15,000 refurbishment of its lounge, and there was still uncertainty over the future of the Rover plant.

we ran a feature telling the story of how 20 Alvechurch men banded together to build their own homes in the village after World War II. The ‘Drewit” group (including Joe Woods, Tom Hammond, Ray Warner and Bob Martin, above) built 20 houses on Callow Hill Road between 1954 and 1956. alvechurch butchers EJ Crow & Son, managed by Paul Queen (left), had won the Gold Award for their pork sausages in the Three Counties British Meats Awards for Excellence, having scooped Gold for their lamb burgers the previous year. The Village

March 2019

07903 862495

Village Books and Stories

Daisy’s story raises smiles

budding author from Barnt Green has won a young writers’ competition with her short story about a case of mistaken identity. Eight-year-old Daisy Jenkinson heard about the contest, held by Worcester Severn Rotary Club as part of a national scheme, through Kings Hawford School in Worcester where she is a Year 4 pupil. This year’s theme was “My Inspiration” and Daisy’s story triumphed in the Junior category for children aged seven to 10. She was asked to attend a Worcester Severn Rotary Club meeting at Worcester Golf and Country Club, where she read out her story to the judges and members and received a certificate and book vouchers. The judges said that Daisy’s story was “excellent”, showing clarity, humour and a good twist. They described it as “amusing, wellstructured and written, without any unnecessary material.” Daisy was then informed that as a local heat winner, her entry had also been entered into the districtwide competition, encompassing 29 Rotary clubs across Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Monmouthshire, Bristol and Somerset. She was declared the runner-up, narrowly beaten by an older girl from Nailsea. Daisy attended another awards ceremony in Gloucester, where her work was displayed and she was awarded another certificate.

The Village

March 2019

My Inspiration. . . to get to Hollywood

am Daisy Jenkinson and boy do I have an amazing story to tell. Well, you may wonder why it says Hollywood in my title, but I’ll tell you more about that later. First, let me set the scene for you. I have always wanted to be in a movie, more than anything. It’s what inspires me every day so I auditioned for lots of parts at school and was always practicing in front of the mirror. So imagine how excited I was when I got a phone call from The LA Movie Theatre Company. In case you are wondering, LA is Los Angeles and Hollywood is in Los Angeles. . . you get the picture right? So I packed my bags, booked my flight, got changed into my most sparkly clothes, it was America after all. When I arrived a really long car picked me up at the airport, I think they call it a Limousine. It felt amazing and I waved at everyone who looked at me. The audition theatre was huge and the stage was even bigger! A big man in the front row was shouting “NEXT” That’s when my phone rang, I answered and a man said “Hello you must be Daisy? Where are you?” “Well, yes I am, how did you know?” I said, a little puzzled. He went on to explain that he was the guy who invited me to come to Bollywood… BOLLYWOOD? “So not Hollywood then?” I asked? Now wait a minute, he’s in Bollywood, India and I’m in Hollywood, NOT India! After a few minutes of saying sorry, he was gone. It turned out that LA was Lassan Area… a part of India and NOT Los Angeles. My dream was over. “NEXT!!!” What was I to do? “You must be Sandra?” said the big man. I paused… “Yeah, sure that’s me, Sandra!” The audition went really well. I sang, I danced, and I even did a few jokes that made the big man laugh. “You’re fantastic!” he shouted and I was beaming from ear to ear. That’s when the doors burst open. “OMG sooo sooorrrryyy I’m late,” said the young girl in the bright red dress. “The limo didn’t even turn up!” The big man turned to me and then to the girl in the red dress… and then to me and back to the girl in the red dress! “Who are you?” He shouted at the top of his voice. “Golly” she exclaimed “I’m Sandra!”

The Village reviews the latest books from two prolific local authors.

Tricky politics of trade war

Southern Thunder: The Royal

Navy and the Scandinavian Trade in World War One by Steve R Dunn

his is Steve Dunn’s seventh naval history book, and with two more already in progress, you’d think there wouldn’t be many aspects of the Royal Navy’s WWI exploits the Barnt Green author hadn’t already covered. . . but here yet again he has created a fascinating tribute to those involved in another little-remembered theatre of the war. This time it’s the battle for trade in Owners and loaners at the the North Sea, which caused no end 2018 Gaydon handover of political and tactical headaches for the British Government and the Admiralty, not to mention the Scandinavian countries themselves. Dunn examines how the precarious neutrality of Sweden, Norway and Denmark was just about main-

our very different books form the latest offering from Rednal author Jack Walsh. His latest novel, Blood!, is a juicy and chilling tale of revenge from beyond the grave. Spanning more than 100 years, it takes in the horrors of the late-Victorian and Edwardian workhouse and asylum systems before moving into the 1950s where a man is haunted by witnessing a bizarre killing – and then to the present day where police are baffled by further murders with a supernatural twist. With part of the story set around Burcot and Barnt Green, Village readers will recognise many locations – and may never look at Blackwell Road in the same way again! Since Jack’s novels have covered the Vietnam War, the Soviet gulags, sexual depravity and now vampirism, a children’s book is something of a

tained through careful diplomacy, despite various contretemps over commodities and the impact of seemingly unrelated events such as the Russian revolution, the independence of Finland, and the ownership of the Danish West Indies. There’s comprehensive coverage of the convoy system designed to protect merchant ships, beset by accidents, collisions, “friendly fire” and deadly U-boat attacks. As well as the tales of shipwreck and survival, plus vivid descriptions of the tough conditions aboard the destroyers, Dunn presents a detailed analysis of the failures and successes. As ever, it’s the stories of individual characters, weaving together extracts

from diaries, letters and ships’ logs, that lend humanity to the statistics. Minute details paint pictures of everyone from the top brass to the lowliest deckhand, and beside the tragedy, bravery and compassion, there’s room for the odd chuckle at such things as a House of Commons row over herrings, the British variety performers sent to Stockholm as propaganda, and the shipwrecked sailors barred from a hotel until a consignment of soap was brought to clean them up. The book concludes with a look at who gained and lost the most from the conflict, and how the roots of next one were already taking shape. . . Review by SO Southern Thunder is available via Amazon and local bookshops.

Tales of mice and men departure – although he does say that it is aimed at “all children between the ages of five and 105”! The Incredible Journey and Adventures of William and Klara Churchmouse again makes use of the Birmingham area as two mice leave Northfield in search of a new home, finding danger, friendship and enlightenment along the way. Told from the perspective of the mice, there are nods to young readers in the explanations of long words and also the Dahl-esque made-up words (we’re told that mice say “spleep” instead of “sleep”; was this a typo that became a cute touch?). The book also contains a few short poems, and you can find more of Jack’s verse in An Effusion of Poems. Subjects range from serious (war and homelessness) to

prosaic (recycling and grumpy old men) and span a variety of styles from colloquial to lyrical. Equally eclectic (the clue’s in the title) is Eclectica, a bundle of Jack’s short stories – some of which he has turned into full novels. An entertaining vignette of a scorned wife berating her faithless husband sits alongside various ghostly tales, the memoir of an unusual pet, and a frankly terrifying encounter on a bus in the Deep South. All books are available via Amazon as paperback or Kindle editions.

The Village

March 2019

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Village Finance

Advertisement feature

Happy birthday to tax-free savings

he arrival of the new tax year on April 6 means it is time to consider your Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) investments, which will celebrate their 20th birthday in April. Over the past 20 years, the maximum annual contribution has risen from £7,000 per tax year to £20,000 for 2019/20. If you managed to set aside the maximum each tax year since 1999/2000, you would now have placed more than £205,000 into ISAs and largely out of HMRC’s reach. The relatively simple single investment option has also morphed into a range of plans covering everything from retirement planning (the Lifetime ISA) to children’s saving (the Junior ISA). However, one aspect has been common throughout the ISA’s lifetime: new investment is concentrated at the end of the tax year. For example, in the 2017 calendar year, Investment Association data shows that net ISA investment in the second quarter was £1,421 million against a net total of £1,068 million for the entire year (the first and fourth quarter showed net outflows). This means, if you are in that “leave-it-until-the-last-moment” majority, now is the time to start thinking about your 2018/19 ISA investment.

The benefits of ISAs

While the value of ISAs has changed over 20 years, as successive Chancellors have altered the tax treatment of interest, dividends and capital gains, the main tax advantages are largely unchanged: l There is no UK income tax to

Celebrate 20 years of the ISA by making an investment, writes Martin Pryor.

pay on interest, whether from cash or fixed interest securities. With low interest rates and the personal savings allowance of up to £1,000, this benefit is less valuable than it once was. l There is no UK tax to pay on

dividends – This is a more valuable benefit now the dividend allowance is £2,000 and even basic rate taxpayers can face 7.5% dividend tax. l There is no capital gains tax on

profits. l There is no personal reporting to

HMRC. One extra feature added in recent years is the ability to allow ISAs to be effectively transferred to a surviving spouse or civil partner on first death. However, ISAs ultimately remain liable to inheritance tax unless appropriate AIM-listed investments are chosen.

Pension funding

This time of year, also proves popular for limited company owners to move surplus funds into existing or new pension plans to reduce their corporation tax bill for the current tax year. Pensions, of course, are a retirement vehicle but also prove effective for corporation and personal tax planning as well as inheritance tax planning. Any funding into a pension through a limited company will attract tax relief at 19%. For example, a contribution of £10,000 will reduce your Corporation tax bill by £1,900. Personal contributions attract a slightly higher rate of tax relief for non or basic rate tax payers at 20% so a £10,000 contribution will attract £2,000 in tax relief. For higher rate tax payers the relief is very attractive as it remains at 40% – so the same £10,000 contribution will attract £4,000 in tax relief. For year-end ISA investments and pension funding advice and a review of your existing holdings, please contact us at Pryor Portfolio Management Ltd. The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investing in shares should be regarded as a long-term investment and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances. n Contact Pryor Portfolio Management for more information: Tel: 07961 162818 martinpryor@ppm-ifa.co.uk www.ppm-ifa.co.uk The Village

March 2019

Village Weather

Mild end to the winter T

Alvechurch amateur weatherman Phil Thomas records the changes.

he first five days of February started both cold and frosty. However, a change to the south-westerly flow spread milder conditions. The air flow from the far south introduced pleasantly warm and sometimes sunny days, but chilly nights. As a result, Februaryâ€™s averages may well end up being much milder than usual.

February 2019 (to the 17th) Mean Max 9.2C 1.9 above average Mean Min 0.5C 0.4 above average Mean 4.9C 0.8 above average Rainfall 33.1mm 63% of average Sunshine 52.1 hrs 86% of average January had a chilly and very dry start, with no recorded rainfall until the 11th. It then turned much colder again, the last day of the month being the coldest with a maximum temperature of only 1.1C. There was also a low minimum of â€“7.4C on the 31st. However, there was little snowfall seen or recorded.

January 2019 Mean Max 6.5C 0.2 above average Mean Min 1.0C 0.2 above average Mean 3.8C 0.2 above average Rainfall 36.1mm 53% of average Sunshine 52.1 hrs 104% of average Outlook As usual the computer models are poor in agreeing on Marchâ€™s outlook. To begin with, we are likely to see Atlantic weather fronts affecting the northwest, perhaps making more progress across the country. This will occasionally bring rain more widely, but with higher pressure remaining close to the east of the UK we may see a continuation of drier than aver-

age conditions. As we go through March, more of a south easterly wind may develop, which could bring colder air from the continent across the UK. As frontal systems then come

against this, there is the potential for some snow. Overall, temperatures are likely to be near or slightly above average, but with the continued chance of some colder spells.

More information at www.alvechurchweather.metsite.com You can see an improved HD weather-cam, updated at one-minute intervals, at: www.alvechurchweather.metsite.com/webcam_alvechurch.php

The Village

March 2019

Mark Meads

Equity Release, Mortgage and Protection Specialist

Free up funds from your home and live the life you want

If you would like to talk in confidence about your financial needs and future financial planning, please contact me directly on 07730 011897 or mark.meads@villagefinancial.co.uk, for an initial discussion to see how I can help you and your family.

Village Financial Solutions Ltd The Coppice, Rowney Green Lane, Rowney Green, Worcestershire B48 7QF

Mob : 07730 011897 Email : mark.meads@villagefinancial.co.uk Village Financial Solutions Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Personal Touch Financial Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Village Sport Alvechurch leap back into play-off places with an unbeaten run.

recent run of great form saw Alvechurch FC move back into the play-off places – as we went to press, they were fifth in the league with a game in hand. The only draw amid a string of wins came against Stratford in what was the sides’ sixth meeting of the season, this time a home league match. In an exciting, open encounter Alvechurch twice took the lead, but on both occasions Stratford equalised and the game ended 2-2. This was followed by a difficult game at home to Rushall Olympic, who had the slight upper hand throughout – but it’s what you do with the possession that counts, and

AFC unbeaten in seven

a 94th-minute goal by Aaron Lloyd meant that January ended on a high with a 1–0 victory for AFC. ’Church then didn’t play for two weeks due to postponements – firstly a home game against Leiston (the third time this match had been called off – it’s currently due to take place on March 12) and then an away match at King’s Lynn. The latter was scheduled on the weekend when snow wreaked havoc in Cornwall and the south of the country. A tweet was sent from King’s Lynn on Friday evening and another on Saturday morning assuring Alvechurch that the game would definitely be on, knowing that the team coach would be leaving at 9.45am. The chairmen of both clubs also spoke at midday and still the game was definitely on. AFC’s commercial manager – and fan – Trevor Ball takes up the story: “We set off at 11.30am by car for the 2.5-hour, 125-mile trip to north Norfolk. All was going fine until we were 10 miles south of King’s Lynn when I received a phone call from a supporter who had travelled on the

The Village

March 2019

coach to tell us there was going to be a pitch inspection at 2pm. “We arrived at the ground to see the management team re-loading the coach with the kit, footballs and training gear. The referee had called the game off due to a frozen pitch. “Obviously players’ safety is paramount, but to make the decision so late in the day, having been assured at midday that the match was definitely on, is bitterly disappointing. “Not only did we make a five-hour 250-mile round trip for nothing, but the costs to the club, coach hire, food and drink for the players and all the hard work put in over the past week in preparation for the game has cost the club dearly. “Plus we all have to do it all again on a Tuesday night later in the season when the players have to arrange time off work or take a half day holiday.” The game has now been scheduled for Tuesday March 19 at 7.45pm. Despite the two-week lay-off, Alvechurch were on top of their game when they played Bedworth United, beating them 3-0 to move back into

the play-off places. Half an hour into the game ’Church took the lead after Josh March was fouled in the box and Tom Turton stepped up for the penalty. In the sides’ previous meetings, AFC scored two goals in four minutes and they repeated this feat here, with Kieran Cook tapping home soon after the opener. Taylor Morrison scored his debut goal to seal the win with 20 minutes remaining, meaning Ian Long’s side were unbeaten in six games. This was extended to seven with another home win against play-off rivals Biggleswade Town. l Midfielder Aaron Birch has left Alvechurch and joined National League Northern side Nuneaton Borough. Aaron arrived at Lye Meadow at the beginning of the season but was unable to secure a first team place and decided to move on. Goalkeeper Charlie Price has been sent out on loan to Northern Premier League Eastern side Gresley as he recovers from a back operation. With the recent signing of goalkeeper

Above: Harvey Rose, the eightyear-old fan who won the club’s recent mascot design competition, receives his prize from AFC director Steve Denny, physio Kevin March and captain Ashley Carter. Left: Action from the 3–0 victory over Bedworth United (Photo/ Ian Macvie) Above left: Action from the 3–0 away win at St Neots Town. (Photo/ Ian Macvie)

fixtures

All league fixtures unless stated Danny Crane and the promotion of Tom Parsons from AFC Alvechurch, the loan will give Charlie valuable game time. Two other players out on loan are Theo Llewelyn and Ryan Winwood, both to Midland Football League Premier side Romulus. Both players have been suffering with injuries and need time to build up their stamina and match fitness before being able to compete for a regular first team place. Congratulations to central midfielder Rahis Nabi who won both the AFC supporters’ Player of the

Month and Goal of the Month awards for January. The recent signing has made a big impression with his combative performances and his eye for goal from free kicks. Goal of the month was his stunning free kick from 20 yards against Halesowen Town, which also secured a vital three points.

l For more info or sponsorship enquiries, please contact Trevor Ball at saintsarehot2@btinternet. com or visit www.pitchero.com/ clubs/alvechurch Follow the club on Twitter @Alvechurch1st

Sat Mar 2 Rushden & Diamonds (A) 3pm Sat Mar 9 Lowestoft Town (H) 3pm Tues Mar 12 Leiston (H) 7.45pm Sat Mar 16 Barwell (H) 3pm Tues Mar 19 Kings Lynn (A) 7.45pm Sat Mar 23 St Ives Town (A) 3pm Sat Mar 30 Hitchin Town (H) 3pm Sat Apr 6 Kettering Town (A) 3pm Sat Apr 13 Coalville Town (H) 3pm Sat Apr 20 Stourbridge (A) 3pm Mon Apr 22 Banbury Town (h) 3pm Sat Apr 27 Needham Market (A) 3pm

The Village

March 2019

Mary Green praises ‘good’ hedges and the birds that use them.

he title this month comes from an old folk song. I can’t find any traditional songs for Candlemas, which happened last month, but there is a well-known piece of weather lore about it. Candlemas day this year was definitely “fair and bright” (and very cold) so in theory “winter will have another flight”. However, it soon turned milder and wet afterwards, so maybe we will be spared a ”blackthorn winter” (late cold spell) this spring. So far, some things are delayed, some early and some on time this year. I have seen cherry plum blossom at the

Here’s a health to t time of writing, but no blackthorn yet. Many people who are interested in the wildlife of the planet lament the decline and loss of species. They all know that “destruction of habitat” is the most common cause. But some of them will happily go out the next day and destroy habitat. One

Blackthorn

The Village

March 2019

of the key habitats for insects and birds in this country is hedges and other patches of shrubby and thorny growth, especially now we have lost a lot of our woodlands. Yet hedges are routinely flailed even in the growing season, and brambles and self-sown trees called “scrub” and cut down.

Hedges are human-made and have always been trimmed, and this can be done in the late autumn or winter without harm when they have finished fruiting. However, branches need cutting carefully, not with a mechanical flail, and it only needs doing every three years or so if done properly. The best possible way is to cut one third of the branches each year, so you always have growth. Hedges should never be cut to a flat top. In recent years we are also learning that hedges and bushes are vital for our own health. Hedges or other groups of small trees and bushes are vital for cleaning the air of pollution, especially diesel particulates. Tall trees very near the road are not so useful because they form dense canopies and trap polluted air under them. Flailed hedges are not much use, being too low and not leafy enough. But a good medium-size hedge or group of shrubs or small trees will do the job. There has even been research into the best trees

Village Country Diary A good hedge

Laid hawthorn hedge

he bird in the bush for this – birch, elder and yew are especially good. Most of our familiar garden birds are woodland-edge birds. When we enclosed the land for sheep farming, we created hedges to divide the land into newly-created fields. This was at a time when our native woodland was decreasing. Luckily, we continued the woodland habitat in long strips across the countryside,

and birds and insects thrived, with woodland plants growing under and up the hedges. Hedges were properly laid and trimmed so they grew to a good height and bore flowers and fruit. They became an asset as well as a barrier, their wood, flowers and fruit being used for household purposes. Trees like elder and holly were especially valued, as I explained in my Wren in brambles (Paul Wilde)

articles last year. And fruit trees were planted within the hedges, as well as growing there by chance from birddropped seeds. You can walk along an ordinary hedge around here and find a wonderful range of trees. An old hedge will always have a diverse range of tree species. Good planting of new trees will also have this variety – for example the new hedge a few years old half way up the field path from Withybed to Foxhill. One of my favourites, easily accessible, is the road hedge between the canal bridge and Cooper’s Farm, just outside Alvechurch on Cooper’s Hill. The hedge near the canal bridge is a relic of old woodland with large oak trees, cherry-plum and holly. Bluebells flower here in April and May. The next part alongside the M42 embankment must be around 40 years old, so is relatively new, but very diverse. It has a great range of trees. You will find oak and ash, field maple, alder, apple, hazel, cherry continues overleaf

The Village

March 2019

Village Country Diary Oak and ash leaves, Cooper’s Hill

Wren on cow parsley (Paul Wilde)

continued from previous page

plum, wild cherry, elder, hawthorn, blackthorn, guelder rose, birch and holly, just in a few yards. The flowering starts with hazel, alder and birch catkins, then cherry plum, blackthorn, cherry, apple, hawthorn and guelder rose blossoms. There are a few non-native pines as well. Almost every tree I wrote about last year Wilding apple, is there. There’s a habitat Cooper’s Hill for you! And yet this is just an ordinary stretch of road you might drive down frequently. Parts of the canal also have wonderful hedges like this, though they are often flailed and don’t flower as well as they should. Many are as old as the canal, two hundred years, and some have trees older than that if they followed existing hedge lines, as near Alvechurch marina. In my walks along canals, roads and paths, I often see wrens in the hedge. They have curious habits. They never fly high, going low along hedges and near the ground. There is mythology attached to this. The wren was believed to have been implicated in the death of the first Christian martyr, St Stephen, commemorated on Boxing Day. Its punishment was never to fly towards the heavens. Another legend has it that the wren hitched a ride on an eagle to fly the highest and become “king of the birds” so was cursed to never fly high again. An old British tradition pitted the wren, the bird

Hazel, Cooper’s Hill

The Village

March 2019

Snow on yew

Wild cherry

of darkness, against the robin, the bird of light, in the contest to be king of the birds. The robin had to win. The custom was to hunt a wren on Boxing Day and sacrifice it. In more recent times the wren was not a real one, but the ritual went on, with a song called The Cutty Wren describing how it is caught, killed, cooked and eaten and the food given to the poor. A giant of a little wren indeed! But the reality is just as odd. Wrens’ nests are unusual, and not only in Dudley! It is the cock bird that makes the nests, not the hen. He makes several, and then shows his prospective mate round them till she chooses

Newly-laid hedge

the one she likes best and moves in. After her eggs hatch the female looks after them on her own, which is also unusual in birds. Meanwhile, the cock finds another hen to take up another choice of nest – and then another, and so on till they are all used. The last mate presumably gets the worst nest. Wrens therefore produce a lot of young. Wrens build their nests in all kinds of places and are well-known for liking to nest in old clothes or former nests of other birds. They are not just a hedgerow bird, living in wilder areas on cliffs and even in caves, giving them their Latin name Troglodytes.

They sing loudly for a small bird, all the year round like the robin. In winter they often huddle together in large numbers in a small space, like an old nest or box or hole in a tree. Wren lives are very short: they rarely live for a year. They are so small and light that they often die of cold in bad winters – up to 80 per cent of them in a bad year. But the way they breed means that they can replace themselves in a year, and even grow in numbers in a good year. An odd little bird, but a successful one. You may not have seen one on your Great Garden Birdwatch as they don’t often come to bird tables, but you may well see one flitting along a hedge as you walk past. I was talking to some neighbours recently about the lack of yellowhammers, a bird many of us grew up with, knowing its song of “a little bit of bread and no cheese”. This little bunting likes open arable land, but it also likes tall hedges – and very few arable farmers let their hedges grow to a proper height these days. It likes winter stubble, a practice not used so much by farmers these days. In the more rugged western parts of Britain it has a different habitat, gorse scrub near the sea, and its Welsh name means bird of the gorse. We may need to go west continues overleaf The Village

March 2019

Village Country Diary continued from previous page

now to see the yellowhammer, as we have removed its inland habitat. I heard the first chaffinches and greenfinches of the year as I walked along a canalside hedge in February, as usual. We could lessen the decline of our “garden” birds if we all kept our hedges high, flowering and fruiting. I wrote this poem in January after the lovely annual event that takes place at The Crown in Withybed.

Winter robin

Old woodland patch

Mummers

Trees at bottom of Cooper’s Hill

Field maple, Cooper’s Hill

The Village

March 2019

We stand in soft drizzle, crowded up close The dancers leave and the play starts. I know These people, was dancing with them last night But here they have dark faces and coloured wigs Become someone else. Some of them have been here For centuries: St George, the Turkish Knight, the Doctor The dragon, with its yards of children’s legs, And I remember men now dead who played them with me In a different town fifty years ago. I was Molly And Molly is here today, a local man in dress And wig, deciding not to be a trophy of St George. Some of them are different each year. We have Billy Brexit appearing, resigning, coming back A different but identical politician We have the property developer, getting the loudest boos And the Russian poisoner who does for St George. We laugh and whoop and boo and clap, and drink And chat and see to the children and comment on the actors. They act their parts, take care to fall dead on to the carpet, Speak to the audience, pose and quarrel and fight. It is true drama though. Not like the film and TV Where we pretend the people are real, and every detail Has to be right, the scenery, the period, the accent. Here we know we are in a pub car park And that that is Chris in that wig, and Molly is really a man But it doesn’t matter. The play speaks of community Of the struggle of light against the forces of the dark Of an old year cut down by Father Time, a new one born Out of all of us. We are all mummers. We play our parts Put on the dress and wig, but underneath we are ourselves Our knobbly, various, beautiful, middle-England selves.

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The Village

March 2019

Village Gardening

All things green a

ast May I was too unwell to run the feature I had helped set up at the Malvern Spring Show. I was extremely grateful to friends who took over and did a brilliant job of running it for me – in fact they did a better job than I could have done, so I want them back with me this year! I did manage to get along briefly on the Thursday, and it was great to see everyone. The feature is called The EGG which stands for Eco, Green and Growing. It will be running again this year and it’s all about promoting community groups who are growing food and helping people improve their lives. The idea is that the show provides a platform for people to come and tell their story, share information on gardening and generally help us all realise that there are some great people out there doing some inspiring things in our communities. I want to tell you about some of the groups who are being represented this year, such as Tim Dixon and his team from Colwall Commu-

Eco Birmingham display

The Village

March 2019

Hannah Genders looks forward to another busy Malvern Show.

nity Orchards, who were there last time and are keen to come back. The Colwall Community Orchard, just over the other side of the hill from Malvern, covers about seven acres. It’s all managed by volunteers and is about teaching people practical skills to keep the orchard thriving. The fruit is shared, and they have managed to do up an old packing shed on the site where school children and groups can learn about local diversity and our wonderful fruit heritage in this area of the country. In addition to the orchards, the group set up allotments for people in 2011, covering about two acres. The whole site is gardened on organic principles and the plots are deliberately smaller in size than standard-sized allotments, which most

people find too large to manage. As the orchards and allotments are all about community and bringing people together, there are plenty of events to encourage the social side of community gardening. I personally believe that this is the best way to learn about horticulture – it is such a practical subject and it was how I learned on my first allotment during the time we lived in south Birmingham. My boys were little, and I was missing my rural upbringing so much that I took on an allotment near me. I learned so much from the “old boys” (there were hardly any women then). My first lesson was being shown the right way to plant leeks; I’ve never forgotten it. I loved it down there and I remember seeing so much wildlife on my visits, including an old dog fox lying on the roof of my shed early one morning! The Eco Birmingham project is also returning to Malvern this year. Jackie and her team are a charity that is now city-wide and has grown from a small project in Northfield. They run a number of community gardens in inner-city areas, helped

nd growing

Grafting workshop

Tim Dixon

by the Royal Horticultural Society. Most of the projects revolve around growing food. The principles they follow are organic and permaculture-based (permaculture is the development of gardening ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient). They also run cooking programmes to encourage healthy eating on a low budget. Last year Jackie’s team created a reallyadvert fun display, with a recycled treefix 77x72_Layout 1 14/07/2014

bed complete with planted bedspread of flowers and a clothes line with planted bras! It’ll be fun to see what they come up with this year. The EGG feature is laid out with a central tepee and there is a running programme of talks, demonstrations, and music. The talks are from the contributors who set up the projects, celebrities and visiting speakers, but we also have lots of demonstrations taking place, 09:31 Page 1

everything from grafting fruit to running community seed swaps and hedgerow herbalism. Around the tepee are planted beds with vegetables and fruit. We are fortunate to have Frank Matthews, a well-known fruit nursery in Hereford, helping us again this year. They provided some amazing trees last time in large apple boxes, and there will be a yurt in this “orchard” continues overleaf

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Village Gardening

Music session continued from previous page

part of the feature with will weaving workshops throughout the show. I am also hoping to sign up a fabulous charity who are doing food growing projects in Malawi. As I seek out these people and projects to invite them along to the show, it reminds me there are some great things going on all around us – it’s inspiring and positive. RHS Malvern Spring Festival May 10–12 (May 9 is for press and RHS members only). We will be in the Grow and Know section. www.rhsmalvern.co.uk/whats-on Eco Birmingham project

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY Last month’s article on gardens opening for the NGS contained an error – Withybed Gardens will in fact be open on Sunday June 30, from 1– 6pm. Eight different properties in the hamlet will be open to the public, including two new entries at 1 Front Cottages and 1 Rear Cottages.This group of gardens only normally open every two years. You can pick up the new Worcestershire NGS county leaflet from most good garden centres and libraries, and find out more from the NGS website: www.ngs. org.uk

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Village Art

Bromsgrove artist Richard McIlwraith encourages readers to visit a contemporary lace exhibition at Artrix.

Beyond traditional lace I

ntricate, involved, elaborate, enmeshed, Fine, precise, flowing, smooth, Winding, restless, shifting, soothing Warmth of tone, tinge of webs.

98Lace is a fellowship of UK lacemakers with varied textile backgrounds who use traditional techniques to create lace for the 21st century. United by a common goal of bringing modern lace a lively public profile, its members produce original work, breaking through classical boundaries. Throughout March at Artrix in Bromsgrove, you can immerse yourself in an intriguing exhibition of lace work from this talented national group. Expect the experimental. Witness the individual artists’ journeys from customary to contemporary. The complexity within the works is staggering. I visited the exhibition on the evening of the Young Picasso screening in February and there are evident similarities between the creative new directions the famous artist pursued and the unique courses followed by the members of 98Lace. Tradition is stepped past and you see wire, silk paper, wool, felting, grids, patterns, William Morris and Celtic designs, perspex rods, paper yarns, shadows, images hidden, paint, technological themes, architecture,

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nature, weather, landscape, fractals and a tea-cup! Just being there releases your imagination. Just consider what jolt of creative energy is liberated in the patient and resilient hands of these master lacemakers. This exhibition is well worth viewing. Its strength is its attention to detail. The textures are selected carefully to give a particular emotional impact. Take your time and peruse the message in each piece. Take Rothko’s advice when he was asked how far back an observer should stand to most fully engage with his famous colour-field paintings: “Right back,” he replied, “about 18 inches”. Go to www.98lace.org.uk to find out more about the fellowship. The exhibition runs until March 31 and can be viewed on weekdays 9am to 2pm; Saturdays 10am to 2pm; and on performance evenings. There is a cafe on site and I have always found the staff and volunteers to be extremely welcoming. Artrix is on Slideslow Drive, Bromsgrove, B60 1GN. Please get in touch if you would like me to write about an art event near you: richard@galleryart61.com www.galleryart61.com Top left: An exhibit in the display. Top right: Lace by Pat Brunsdon. Left: Lace by Vanessa Krushner. Above left: A piece by Jean Leader.

Village What’s On

chance to see classic comedy

lvechurch Dramatic Society present Noël Coward’s classic comedy Blithe Spirit as their spring production, performed at Alvechurch Village Hall from Thursday April 11 to Saturday April 13. Subtitled “An improbable farce”, this much-loved play follows the comic mishaps of writer Charles Condomine, who invites eccentric medium and clairvoyant Madame Arcati to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to gather material for his next book. But the scheme backfires when the séance accidentally summons the ghost of his first wife, Elvira. Unseen by all except for Charles, Elvira proceeds to spread chaos in her attempts to disrupt his marriage to his second wife, Ruth. But to what lengths will she go to win him back for good? This clever play displays all of Coward’s trademark wit and invention – theatre critic Charles Spencer said that “…with Hay Fever and Private Lives, Blithe Spirit strikes me as being one of Coward’s three indisputable

EVENTS A menopause Awareness Evening takes place on Thurs Feb 28 at Barnt Green Baptist Church, from 7.30–9pm. An informative evening where you can find out more about the menopause over a glass of wine – with profits going to Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust. Tickets £10 – contact Heidi on 07971 789119. Barnt Green BookFest takes place on Sat March 16 at St Andrew’s Parish Centre, with authors, artists, storytelling events and workshops for children and families. Full programme and tickets at www.bournvillebookfest.com A Table Top Sale will be held in The Ark, Alvechurch on Sat April 13 from 10.30am–3pm. Admission free. This is the Bell Ringers’ annual event, raising funds for restoration of the St Laurence tower clock. Wide range of tables with books, jigsaws, toys, tools, crafts and general bric-a-brac. Refreshments served all day. Ring Karen on 0121 445 4980 to book a table. The ringers are collecting for their own stall and would be pleased to collect donations.

comic masterpieces.” Last performed by ADS in November 1964, the group are delighted to be able to bring it back to the Village Hall stage. Presented by special arrangement with Samuel French Ltd. All performances start at 7.30pm. Tickets £7 (£6 concessions), available

from The Lounge, Alvechurch, or on 07984 570763 or ads.alvechurch@ gmail.com

Above, L-R: Jo Bestwick (Ruth), Martin Salter (Charles), Leah Yendell (Elvira), Sue Resuggan (Madame Arcati), Rosie Pring (Edith), Craig Osborne (Dr Bradman), EmmaLouise Hodgson (Mrs Bradman).

what’s on guide The Trinity Centre on Old Birmingham Road, Lickey, is holding a Table Top Sale on Sat March 30 from 11am–2pm. Light refreshments available. To book a table (£10 each) please phone Alison on 0121 445 6170. A Quiz & Supper Evening hosted by The Midland Sinfonia takes place on Fri March 8 at 7.30pm at The Ark, Alvechurch. This annual fundraiser is an entertaining general knowledge quiz, taking teams of up to six with singles accommodated. Entry £9 pp to include supper. Usual bar available or corkage payable. Booking essential on 0121 447 7040 or 07889 147861 or midlandsinfonia@gmail.com A QUIZ Night in aid of Primrose Hospice takes place on Thurs March 28 at the Holiday Inn, Bromsgrove B61 9AB. Food is included (sandwiches/chips and wedges) and served from 6.15pm, before the quiz at 7pm. Entry £75 per team (max 5 people per team). To book, visit form. jotformeu.com/Vietec/quiz

St Godwald’s Community Cafe meets every other Friday (the next one is March 1) from 10.30am–12.30pm at St Godwald’s Room adjacent to the Church Hall, Finstall Road, Bromsgrove. Home made scones, cake, tea/coffee available. Come and have a chatter, play board games, jigsaws etc. Alpha course – explore life, faith and meaning. Register your interest for our next course in 2019 at Barnt Green Baptist Church. Email outreach@bgb.org. uk or see www.bgb.org.uk ‘Quiet Space’ at Alvechurch Baptist Church takes place each Mon and Fri from 10am–12 noon. The church is open as a quiet space, with “welcomers” on hand to help if required, for anyone who would like to come and find peace and rest for as long as they need. For more info, call Revd Fiona Lee on 0121 447 7369, email revfiona@alvechurchbaptist.org.uk or visit www.alvechurchbaptist.org.uk

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Village What’s On continued from previous page MESSY CHURCH For All! This event is held on the third Sunday most months at Catshill Methodist Church from 3.45pm, to include games, singing, crafts and a story on a Bible-based theme, and simple meal around 5.30pm. Free entry and a warm welcome for all. More info from James Knott on 07968 110 631.

MUSIC Following Alvechurch Baptist Church’s Christmas Tree Festival in aid of homeless people, The Choir With No Name – made up of homeless and recently-homed people from the Birmingham area – will give a concert at the church (Red Lion Street) on Sat March 9 at 7.30pm. Tickets on the door, £8 each or £30 for 4 tickets. Refreshments available in the interval. BROMSGROVE CONCERTs presents the Eblana String Trio on Fri March 22 at Artrix in Bromsgrove, starting at 8pm. Jonathan Martindale (violin), Lucy Nolan (viola) and Peggy Nolan (cello) will perform music including Purcell’s Three-part Fantasias Nos 1-3. Finzi’s Prelude and Fugue Op 24, Beethoven’s String Trio Op 9 No 2. Full info can be found at www.bromsgroveconcerts.org.uk and on Twitter and Facebook. Tickets in advance from Artrix on 01527 577 330 or www.artrix.co.uk or on the door. THE MIDLAND SINFONIA presents its 12th Young Musicians’ Showcase on Sun March 24 at 3pm in St Laurence Church, Alvechurch. An annual invitation for young musicians, up to 18 years old, to perform before an appreciative audience. Free entry – all welcome to the concert, followed by refreshments in the Ark. More info from midlandsinfonia@gmail.com or 0121 447 7040 or 07889 147861. Then on Sat April 6, at the same venue at 7.30pm, TMS’s resident quartet Tedesca (featuring Tom Caldecote on clarinet) will perform Chamber Classics. The programme is Haydn’s String Quartet in D Op.64 No.5 ‘The Lark’, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A K581, and Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’. More info as above or at www. midlandsinfonia.co.uk The Asklepios Orchestra (conducted by Lee Armstrong) give their Spring concert on Sun March 17 at 7.30pm in St Andrew’s Church, Barnt Green, B45 8NR. The programme will be Offenbach’s Overture ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’, Debussy’s

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Suite Bergamasque and Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with soloist Thomas McMahon Admission is free – donations to the retiring collection are much appreciated. Go along and show your support. Hopwood Junction band performs on Sat March 23 at Tower of Song, King’s Norton, from 9pm. More info from Pete on 0121 445 4022. A Jazz & Gin event takes place at Barnt Green Sports Club on Sun March 10. Bar 1–5pm with the four-piece band from 2pm. Free entry, all welcome. Barnt Green Choral Society performs its Spring concert on Sat March 23 at St Andrew’s Church, Sandhills Road, Barnt Green at 7.30pm. The programme will include Chilcott’s Jubilate and Rutter’s Te Deum. Tickets £12 (under 12s free) from Wendy Tricklebank 0121 445 2344 or on the door. Rehearsals will then resume on Mon April 1 for the summer Gilbert and Sullivan Concert. New members welcome, especially tenors. More info from Fiona Brown on 0121 445 5513 or www.barnt greenchoralsociety.org Hopwood Junction band performs on Sat March 16 at Joe Joe Jim’s, Lickey Road, Cofton Hackett. 8.30pm start, £5 on the door. More info from Pete on 0121 445 4022. Mambo Jambo, the acoustic roots duo, perform at the Ark in Alvechurch on Sat April 27. This truly unique two-piece will take you on a musical journey bringing together sounds from roots, world, folk and jazz. With Frankie on sax, vocals, clarinet, flute, guitar and spoons plus other percussion and Pete on guitar, vocal, ukulele, tres (traditional Cuban guitar), banjo, accordion and suitcase! Concert starts 7.30pm - bar opens at 6.45pm. Raffle in aid of Sight Concern. Tickets £8; available from the Ark office weekdays 9am–2pm or on the door, or email thearkalvechurch@yahoo.co.uk or call Ian on 0121 447 7955. Full details at www.thearkalvechurch.co.uk Bromsgrove Choral Society meets each Monday for rehearsals at 7.30pm in St John’s Middle School (Watt Close, Bromsgrove, B61 7DH). Next concert is on Sat April 13 at North Bromsgrove High School at 7.30pm – performing Feel the Spirit by John Rutter, and A Little Jazz Mass by Bob Chilcott. There will also be popular music including Getting to Know You from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I.

New members very welcome, please ring Eileen Kirby on 01527 871237.

Blackwell Concert Band and Training Band is open to all brass and woodwind players of all abilities. To learn more about the band and find details of upcoming events, email blackwellconcertband98@ gmail.com or visit www.blackwellconcertband.co.uk You will also find information on how to book the band. Singing to Beat, the group for people with dementia, Parkinson’s, MS and other neuro conditions (plus carers, friends and relatives) is now at the Longbridge Retirement Village (B45 8TD) every Weds from 11.30am–1pm. Cost £3.50 for those from outside the village – all welcome. No previous experience necessary. More info from Ruth on 0121 453 6952. Shamanic Drumming Group meets monthly at Hopwood Village Hall. Drumming for Vitality, Healing and Joy. No previous experience necessary, drums available to borrow. For further details email Andy on Fixedholdsworth@sky.com The Cats Chorus is described as “a fun choir for people who love to sing but don’t have to be vocally gifted”, and meets on Tuesdays (term-time) at 7.30pm in The Wheel, Blackwell. They sing hits from the 60s to the present day. For more info, email sharoncatschorus@yahoo.com TARDEBIGGE CHURCH choir is seeking new recruits! The choir, based at St Bartholomew’s (B60 3AH) is struggling with declining numbers due to age and health, but still sings in four parts at morning and evening services on Sundays, plus weddings and funerals. They particularly need a bass or bass-baritone, but all parts are welcome! Pop along to a practice on Sat at 10am, or call Robert on 01527 542491. Alvechurch Community Choir meets at 7.30pm on Mondays in Alvechurch Village Hall, though on the 2nd Monday each month they move to Alvechurch Social Club. The choir is an open access singing group; new members of all abilities are welcome – just go along. It is part of a charity called Everybody Let’s Sing and is committed to bringing music to a wide community, including a regular choir it runs at The Lawns care home. The choir sings gospel, folk and popular songs from all ages and loves to perform for local occasions – including the Alvechurch Arise Easter celebrations this spring. Find out more about the choir at www.lets-sing.

co.uk To ask about booking the choir for an event, or for details of sessions and venues, ring Mary on 0121 445 5957. The Arrow Vale Singers meet on Wednesdays from 8–10pm at Batchley Community Centre, Redditch B97 6PB, including a refreshment break. More info on 07718 113086, www.arrowvalesingers. co.uk or arrowvalesingers@gmail.com A JAZZ Night takes place at Beoley Village Hall on the 4th Wednesday of each month, featuring some fantastic “trad” jazz bands. For further details, or to order advance tickets, call 01527 62584 or 01527 66646 (both before 9.30pm). Alvechurch acoustic ROOTS usually takes place on the last Friday of each month at Alvechurch Social Club. Starts 8pm sharp and still only £4 (£3 concessions) to come and hear some of the West Midland’s finest live performers. Alvechurch Sports & Social Club hosts a series of music events including ACOUSTIC ROOTS with a variety of local performers ten times a year, KARAOKE every Sunday evening and LIVE bands. For up to date details visit the Club’s Facebook page or phone 0121 445 2121. BROMSGROVE FOLK Club meets on the second and last Thurs every month at Catshill Club, starting at 8pm. For a full list of events call Bob Bignell on 0121 476 5938 or see www.bromsgrovefolkclub.co.uk BROMSGROVE ROCK Choir offers everyone the chance to sing pop, rock and chart songs – no audition. Free taster sessions available. More info at www.rockchoir.com or on 01252 714276. Cantare Daytime Choir meets on Fridays 9.15–10.15am at Alvechurch Cricket Club – everyone welcome. Do you enjoy singing with other people? Don’t worry if you think you can’t sing, or don’t read music, everyone is welcome. You can even bring your kids/babies if they let you sing. Whether you want to perform in concerts or simply sing for fun, for the therapeutic or health benefits gained from group singing, why not come along for a free trial session? For more info contact cantarechoir2011@gmail.com, call Rebecca on 07803 900154 or see www. cantarechoir.com Bromsgrove Community Choir meets on Thurs evenings, 6–7 pm at Bromsgrove Methodist Centre, in room 6, at the rear of

cofton bake-off & tea party Contestants are required for the Great Cofton Bake-Off and Tea Party, which takes place on Sat March 9 at The Parish Centre, Sandhills Road, Barnt Green, from 2pm. There are five categories and the entry fee is £4 per adult or £2 for under-16s. The categories are: l Showstopper – dazzle the judges with a feast for the eyes: must be Cofton-themed! l Technical – your best Victoria sponge l Taste Sensation – impress the judges with your flavours l Under 16s – open to any budding star bakers l Under 10s – open to younger budding star bakers

If you wish to enter, email Lizzie Yates on Lizziegy@ hotmail.co.uk to obtain a registration form. If baking is not for you but eating cake is, the cakes will be cut up and shared with a hot drink from 3pm – entry is £2 for adults, £1 for under-16s and free for under-fives. Guest judges will announce the winners at 4pm, with a prize for each category. There will also be a raffle with prizes donated by the community and local businesses. The competition is in aid of the New Cofton Village Hall and some of the trustees will be attending.

the building off the small car park. They sing for fun and enjoyment; everyone welcome, singers or not. Contact Ruth Henley for details on 01527 527022 or email r.g.henley@btinternet.com

Latin and Social Sequence dancing to live music by Graham Darby. Doors open 7.30pm; dancing from 8–11pm. Entry £5 on the door. More details on 01543 502722 or www.grahamdarbysmusic.com

Bel Canto Singers... do you enjoy singing bright and lively pieces? Join in with a friendly group of mixed age singers. The music is a good variety (pop, retro, musical and popular classical), and the group’s aim is to produce a quality sound whilst supporting charity and community fund raising. The singers meet on Monday evenings at Crabbs Cross Methodist Church, Crabbs Cross Lane, Redditch B97 5LD. The marvellous men would love more tenors and bass voices! If you enjoy singing, or would like to try something new, the group would love to hear from you. More info at www. belcantosingers.co.uk or from Polly Speers on 01564 822672.

AVONCROFT FOLK Dance Group enjoys anything from barn dances to ones seen in Pride & Prejudice or Poldark. All welcome, no need to have a partner. The group meets every Thurs from 8–10pm at Avoncroft Arts Centre, Redditch Road, Bromsgrove. £2.50 incl refreshments. Info from Liz Stanton on 01905 353995 or liz@ the-stantons.uk or visit www.avoncroftfdg. btck.co.uk

Alvechurch Samba Band, Banda Sem Nome, is looking for new recruits! This local community side meets on the 1st and 3rd Thurs each month at Alvechurch Cricket Club at 8pm. Go along if you fancy having a go at something a little bit different and discovering your hidden talents! No previous experience required, all welcome (u16s must be accompanied by an adult). More info from Andrea on 07867 858099.

DANCING Graham & Denise Darby present Saturday Night Social Dances on Sat March 9 and Sat April 6, both at Lickey End Social Club, Bromsgrove, in aid of Midlands Air Ambulance and Prostate Cancer. Ballroom,

French & Breton folk dancing at Alvechurch Village Hall: usually on the 1st Sat each month, 2.30–5pm. Informal tuition and live music provided. New dancers (and musicians) welcome. £2 per session. For details, email alvechurchfrenchdance@ gmail.com Aelfgythe Border Morris is actively seeking new dancers (female) and musicians (male or female) to join them for fun, exercise and dancing. They meet at 7.45pm every Wednesday in Alvechurch Baptist Church Hall. Everyone welcome. Come and play traditional folk music, or try morris dancing. For more details call Pam on 07961 830 831. Tea Dances run by Bromsgrove District Council now take place in the new council building at Parkside Hall (Stourbridge Road, Bromsgrove, B61 8DA) on the last Tues of the month, 2–4pm, dancing to

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continued from previous page Brian’s super sounds! £4 entry includes tea/ coffee and biscuits. For further info contact Jan on 01527 881478. No longer able to dance? Try Wheelchair Dancing instead! Wheels and Toes meets in Harborne each Thurs, 6.15-8pm. Wide variety of dances. More info: Barbara on 0121 458 3686 or marshall8558@hotmail.com Sequence ballroom and Latin dancing every Monday evening at 8pm at the Longbridge Social Club, 1012 Bristol Road South, Northfield. Occasional free tuition. All welcome to a friendly fun-filled dance. More details from Kalvin on 07725 265024. DANCE SESSIONS take place every Tuesday from 11am–12noon at the Where Next Hub (Unit 2a, Millsborough House, Ipsley Street, Redditch B98 7AL). Designed for people with special needs, but all are welcome – join Nikki and the team and learn some new moves! £7 per session. Book now on 01527 69330 or nickylevy5@btconnect. com. All proceeds to the Where Next Association. Alvechurch Morris Men are on the look out for new dancers and musicians. They practise on Mondays at Alvechurch Baptist Church Hall, 8.30–10pm, followed by a “debrief” at a local hostelry. They dance in local towns and at various local and national events, and perform a worldfamous (sort of ) mummers play in the village every New Year’s Day. No ability, fitness or co-ordination required – if you are male, 18+ and prepared to spend more time than is probably good for you in public houses, pop along to meet the group! Drop in to any practice or contact Chris on 07984 570763 or email chris.alvechurchbagman@gmail.com THE PHOENIX Dance Club holds Social Dances, Ballroom & Sequence Dancing twice a month on Sat nights at Bromsgrove Council building, Parkside Hall, Stourbridge Road, Bromsgrove B61 8DA. Next dates are Jan 12 and 26. Free parking. No membership required. No bar facilities – please bring your own refreshments. More info from Mick or Thelma on 01527 872634. THE CIRCASSIAN Circle Barndancing Club runs on the first Saturday each month at Rowney Green Village Hall. £5 per person to include sandwich, tea and cake! More info on 01527 545002. BJ’s Busy Boots Line Dancing Classes: Tues 2–3pm Bromsgrove Leisure Centre;

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7–10pm Stoke Prior Sports/Country Club. Thurs 12–2.15pm Bromsgrove Methodist Church Centre. Social Dance 1st Sat in month at All Saints Church Hall, Burcot Lane. It’s a fun way to exercise. For more details phone Brenda on 01517 870151.

All carers welcome, as well as those who used to care for someone who may have passed away or is now in a care facility. Tea and biscuits or cake provided – no charge. Contact Sheila (0121 445 2813) or Di (0121 445 3595) for details and encouragement.

THEATRE

Bromsgrove Speakers Club meets at The Barn at The Bell at Belbroughton every other Tues, 7.45–10pm. Everyone who wants to gain confidence in public speaking is welcome, but please tell the group that you are coming by using the ‘Visit Us’ page at www.bromsgrovespeakers.org.uk, which also contains full details of events.

Blackwell & Barnt Green Theatre Group has been in existence for over 40 years and only of late has any vacancies for new members. The group makes five or six visits a year, usually to Malvern or Symphony Hall in Birmingham. Membership includes reduced ticket fees and coach travel to the selected venue from the crossroads at Blackwell Post Office. More details on 0791 273 3226 or 0797 100 7604. Rubery Drama Group usually meets every Wednesday at the Beacon Church Centre, Whetty Lane, Rubery, 7.30 for 7.45pm.

CLUBS, GROUPS & SOCIETIES The Bromsgrove Society’s next talk is on Tues March 19 at The Methodist Centre, Bromsgrove, at 7.45pm and is entitled Living the Poor Life: In and Out of the Bromsgrove Workhouse. Speaker Sarah Bradley will explore the experiences of people who were forced into the workhouse. More info at www.bsoc.co.uk. redditch Military History Society usually meets monthly in St Luke’s Church Hall (Evesham Road, Redditch, B97 4JX), 7 for 7.30pm. More info from Ron on 01527 545450 or ronnieg33b@hotmail.co.uk Bromsgrove U3A. Retired/semi-retired? Meetings with guest speakers 1st and 3rd Tues most months at Artrix plus a variety of activities and outings: something for everyone. Curious? Call 01527 870449 or see www.u3asites.org.uk/bromsgrove/home Redditch Lions Club meets on the second Weds of each month at the Southcrest Hotel, Redditch B97 4JS at 8pm. For more info call 0845 833 5914, email secretary@ redditchlions.org.uk or visit www.redditchlions.org.uk Catshill Carers Group is a group set up specifically to offer one afternoon a month of respite, socialising and occasional speakers to carers in the area. It meets on the last Tues each month in the coffee bar area of Catshill Methodist Church Centre in Golden Cross Lane from 2.30pm for about 1.5 hrs.

Burcot Knit & Natter meets weekly on Mondays from 1–3pm at Burcot Garden Centre, B60 1PW. Phone Kim Neale on 0121 445 1677, or drop by, for more details. Cost £3 to include a drink and cake. Central Radio Car Club meets every Friday 6.30–10pm (racing starts 7pm) at Woodrush Community High School, Shawhurst Lane, Wythall, B47 5JW. Members race electric cars LMP & GT12 indoors on carpet. There is a club GT12 loan car if you would like to try your hand at racing. For more information visit www. centralcarclub.co.uk, search ‘CentralRadioCarClub’ on Facebook or call Bob Jones on 01527 870463. Alvechurch Village Society has its AGM on Weds March 20, at 7.45 in Alvechurch Village Hall, followed by drinks, nibbles and natter. More info from Grace Hampson on 0121 445 1683. Redditch Rotary Club meets Monday lunchtimes at the Abbey Hotel, Hither Green Lane, Redditch, B98 9BE. You would be very welcome to join in. Want to be involved, hear interesting speakers, and serve your community? Want to know more? Contact Peter Williams on 01527 60277. COFFEE BREAK meets every Friday morning from 10.30am–12noon, in the Parish Centre behind St Andrew’s Church, Sandhills Road, Barnt Green. You will find a friendly and warm welcome – see you soon! For enquiries ring 0121 445 4278. Bromsgrove Photographic Society is a friendly, active and mutually supportive club for those interested in photography and digital imaging. The growing membership includes those with interests in both film and digital techniques, wide-ranging subjects and from highly-skilled photographers to novices. The club meets on

Village What’s On Tuesday nights, 8–10pm at the Avoncroft Arts Centre. New members and visitors welcome. For more information, please visit www.bromsgroveps.co.uk The North Worcestershire Association of the National Trust Supporters’ Group (covering members resident in Bromsgrove, Droitwich and Redditch), meets at 7.30pm on the 3rd Thursday each month in Tardebigge Community Hall, behind St Bartholomew’s Church. Selection of interesting talks, plus coach outings, rambles, an annual holiday and fundraising activities, with emphasis on FUN! New members always welcome; annual subscription £7.50. More details from membership secretary Betty Millward on 01527 523805 or email bettymilllward36@hotmail.co.uk Contact the Elderly aims to help isolated elderly people in the village area by offering monthly tea parties where they can reconnect or make new friends in their own community. If you know of an elderly person who could benefit, please get in touch on 07539 276054. Guests need to be aged over 75 and living alone, and must be mobile enough to walk to a driver’s car with assistance. You can find general information at www.contact-the-elderly. org.uk and details of the local group by searching for ‘Contact the Elderly Redditch’ on Facebook. ROTARY CLUB OF BROMSGROVE meets 2nd and 4th Tuesday every month at 7pm for 7.30pm at the Ladybird Inn function room, 2 Finstall Road, Bromsgrove, B60 2DZ. New members welcome. For more info visit www.bromsgroverotary.org.uk or contact Ron Pearce on 07703 567982. Alvechurch Sports & Social Club has a large Function Room available for hire. It has a bar, choice of two stages, plenty of seating, a dance floor and a capacity of 140. CHARITY fund raising events enjoy FREE room hire. Please book early; for more details contact the Club on 0121 445 2121, visit the Facebook page and leave a message, or email alvechurchssc2015@ hotmail.com Burcot Niddie Noddies spinning group meets on the 3rd Sat each month, 10am– 1pm at Burcot Garden Centre, B60 1PW. Open to all crafters, not just spinners. Bring your own chair. Phone Kim Neale on 0121 445 1677, or drop by, for more details. Cost £3 to include a drink and cake. Barnt Green Parish Centre has large and medium sized lounges available for

join in with ALVECHURCH ARISE The churches in Alvechurch and Rowney Green would love villagers to join them in the witness of the events of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Palm Sunday – April 14, 11am Join the procession from the bottom of School Lane to the Precinct at 11am There will be a donkey at the head of the procession with Alvechurch Community Choir and people from the village and the churches, followed by a short act of worship and songs from the choir. There will be short donkey rides for the children.

Maundy Thursday – April 18, 3.30pm–5.30pm Join in the family activities at The Lounge. Free soup and bread to remember the Last Supper. Foot and hand washing, decorating Alvechurch Arise rocks and other items. Good Friday – April 19, 12 noon See the cross and share in a time of reflection. Easter Sunday – April 21, 12 noon A celebration of the Resurrection in the precinct, and an Easter egg hunt for the children.

regular hire for some morning and early afternoon sessions each week. Please contact the Parish Administrator on 0121 447 7097.

knitting, crochet and more, together with tea, cake and chat. For more info contact Maggie on 0121 439 9324 or Jayne on 0121 445 1113.

The Birmingham branch of the International Plastic Modelling Society caters to scale modellers interested in a variety of subjects including Aircraft, Vehicles, Ships, Science Fiction and Figures. All ages and abilities welcome, building anything from basic kits to complicated scratch-built models. Meetings take place at Longbridge Methodist Church in the Reception/Cafe area (1654/8 Bristol Road South, B45 9TY) usually on the 3rd Sun each month (sometimes the date is changed to avoid clashing with model shows or holiday periods). You can find more info at: www.ipmsbirmingham. blogspot.co.uk

Lickey Valley Trefoil Guild, as a branch of the Guide Association, is open to anyone over the age of 18. Make new friends, travel, explore, serve the community and help Guiding and Scouting in your area. The Guild meets at Barnt Green Scout & Guide Centre (off Blackwell Road, Barnt Green, B45 8BT) every second Weds from 7.30–9.30pm. For more info call 0121 445 3907 or 0121 445 2813 or visit www. trefoilguild.co.uk

Heart of England Speakers is a small, friendly, public speaking club, based in Knowle near Solihull. It is affiliated to Toastmasters International, and meets on the 1st and 3rd Tues every month, 7.30pm to 9.30pm, at the Greswolde Hotel, Knowle. More information at www.heartspeakers.org.uk midland ancestors meets monthly at 7.45pm at Bromsgrove Methodist Centre, 19 Stratford Road, Bromsgrove, B60 1AS. On March 12, it’s the AGM followed by a talk from Max Hunt on Lord Austin of Longbridge, tracing the rise of Herbert Austin from obscure beginnings to control of Europe’s largest motor plant in the 1930s. More info at www. bromsgrovebmsgh.co.uk Common thread is a friendly group of women who enjoy crafts including sewing,

Available for hire: The Wheel community room by St Catherine’s Church, Blackwell. Suitable for groups. Quiet, enclosed garden adjacent. For details contact the church office on 0121 445 1425. Bromsgrove (1982) Probus Club provides regular opportunities for retired professionals and businessmen to meet socially and share common interests. A members’ meeting is held at Avoncroft Arts Centre on the 3rd Weds each month, 10am–12noon, including refreshments and a talk by a guest speaker. For more info visit www.bromsgroveprobus.co.uk or contact Jim on 01527 833531. BEACON LADIES CLUB meets at 8pm on alternate Wednesday evenings at The Hawthorns Social Club, Rednal Hill Lane, Rednal. There is a varied programme of speakers and outings, including occasional visits to the theatre. New members of all ages welcome. £10 annual membership, plus £2 fortnightly. Please ring Barbara on 0121 445 3456 or Anita on 445 3770.

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continued from previous page Lickey Phab Club is a social club where people aged 14 and over, with and without disabilities, can come together each week to have fun! It is affiliated to national charity Phab (Physically Disabled and Able Bodied). The club meets every Mon from 7.30–9.30pm at The Trinity Centre, Lickey Parish Hall to have fun, play games, do crafts or just chat – there’s also a tuck shop! More info from Louise Edgell on 07814 122990 or lickeyphabclub@hotmail.com COFFEE, CAKE and Chat meets from 10.30am to 12noon on the fourth Friday of the month (not August) in The Wheel at St Catherine’s Church, Blackwell. All welcome; for details, call Rodney on 0121 445 2070. The Worcester-Birmingham & Droitwich Canals Society meets at the Alvechurch Boat Centre, Scarfield Hill (just a few steps behind The Weighbridge pub) on an “almost monthly” basis. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month, 7.45pm. There is usually a guest speaker and a raffle. Non-members are very welcome to come along. Please visit the website: www. wbdcs.org.uk Beoley Good Companions, a group for retired people, meets on the 1st Mon monthly at Beoley Village Hall to socialise and enjoy an entertainer or speaker. Membership only £7 per year plus £2 entry charge, which includes a free raffle ticket. If you are interested in joining the group, contact Secretary Ken Hawkesford on 01527 61130 or email kenhawkesford @yahoo.co.uk or beoleygood.companions @yahoo.co.uk for an application form. Bromsgrove Astronomical Society usually meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at Bromsgrove Rugby Club (Finstall Road, B60 3DH). Doors open 7.30pm, speakers begin 7.45pm. Admission free on your first visit; refreshments available. On March 18, Peter Williamson presents Astrophotography with Public Access Telescopes. Observing meetings are also held on the first Monday each month – bring your telescopes. More information on 01527 908331 or www.broms-astro. org.uk THE FRIENDSHIP Club of Barnt Green usually meets monthly at 2.15pm at the Friends Meeting House, Barnt Green. On Mar 19, Tom Speake presents Next One Fashions (not to be confused with Next stores). Visitors £3 to include tea and biscuits. For more details call Rosalind Tyler

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on 0121 445 0598. THE WEDNESDAY Club usually meets on the second Weds of each month at Alvechurch Cricket Club at 1.30pm, and offers the chance to make new friends, meet old ones and enjoy talks, demos and visits. Visitors £4 including tea. On March 13 it’s Hanbury Hall with Derek Clark. More info from Janet on 0121 447 7870 or Lis on 0121 445 3895. LICKEY HILLS Local History Society meets monthly at 7.30pm in the Trinity Centre, Old Birmingham Road, Lickey B45 8ES. On March 19 Melvyn Thompson and Dave Grayland present The Mills and Tall Chimneys of Kidderminster. Annual subscription: £15. Non members: £3 per meeting. More info from George Gascoyne, Hon Secretary on 0121 453 6320, or ccgi.lickey.plus.com BROMSGROVE RAILWAY Club usually holds monthly meetings at St Godwald’s Church Hall in Finstall, 7.15pm for 7.45 start.There are always refreshments and a book stall, and new members are welcome. On March 13, Don Taggart presents Fifty Years A Gricer. More details from Dave on 01527 873800 or Gordon on 01527 873609. KINGFISHER PROBUS Club is recruiting retired and semi-retired men to meet people in a friendly environment. Meetings are held at The Foxlydiate Arms (B97 6PX), every 2nd Thurs of the month at 11.30am. Lunch is followed by an interesting talk given by a visiting speaker. Partners/ friends welcome for walks, trips, golf, skittles and special lunches. For more info visit www.kingfisherprobusredditch.co.uk or contact Chris Bailey on 01527 835802. Soroptimist International of Bromsgrove and Redditch meets on the 2nd Thurs each month at 7pm at the Southcrest Manor Hotel, Pool Bank, Redditch B97 4JS. New members welcome. For further information contact Hazel on 07799 482444. Bromsgrove Ladies Probus meets monthly for a light lunch with a speaker, networking and occasional outings. If you are a professional or business woman and are recently retired, or coming up to retirement and would like further info, email bromsgroveladiesprobus@gmail.com ALVECHURCH HISTORICAL Society usually meets on the first Mon of the month at 7.45pm at the Museum in School Lane, Alvechurch. On March 4, Anthony Green presents River Arrow Flowing Through. More details from Anne Humphries on 0121 445

5955. New members welcome. BROMSGROVE PHOENIX NCDS (National Council for the Divorced, Separated & Widowed) Club meets at Lickey End Working Men’s Club every Thurs from 8-11pm. For more info call Mark Waring on 01562 824057, Pam Banks on 01527 759424 or Marilyn Cornish on 01905 778636. TARDEBIGGE COMMUNITY Hall for hire: large, bright facility for functions, clubs, societies and all activities. To book call 07763 446902 or email tchbookings@gmail.com CAN YOU Hear Me? (Communication Forum) usually meets on the 3rd Wednesday each month at Alvechurch Cricket Club, Birmingham Road, from 10.30am– 12noon. Both deaf and hearing people are welcome. More details from Pat on 07966 370448. ROTARY CLUB OF LICKEY HILLS meets on Monday evenings, 7.15 for 7.30pm, at Hillscourt Conference Centre (NASUWT headquarters) on Rose Hill (B45 8RS). For details contact Graham Wiseman on 0121 460 1402. SILVER THREADS, the Alvechurch club, meets on the first Weds each month at 2pm in Alvechurch Village Hall. You’ll be sure of a welcome in this friendly atmosphere, where members can chat over a cup of tea. There are regular bingo sessions, and occasional days out. New members welcome. More info from Pat on 0121 447 8630. HOPWOOD VILLAGE Hall is available for hire: ideal for parties and gatherings. Contact Ann on 0121 447 7668 or visit www.hopwoodvillagehall.co.uk The Monday Fellowship Group meets at the Parish Centre behind St Andrew’s Church in Barnt Green at 2.30pm on the second Mon each month. £1 per talk, to include tea and biscuits. For more information, go along or ring Joyce Linford on 0121 445 1884. Woodrush RUGBY Club “Old Dogs” meet on the first Thurs in the month at the Clubhouse, Icknield Street, 01564 822878. Open to all former players, social members and old friends for a social chat and the odd reminisce over a glass of beer. Join us: call Mike Betts on 07960 303254 or visit www. pitchero.com/clubs/woodrush the MACULAR Society Barnt Green Support Group usually meets on the last Fri of the month (with some exceptions) at The

Village What’s On Parish Centre, behind St Andrew’s Church, Sandhills Road, Barnt Green, B45 8NR, 2–4pm. Friendly, self-help group, proving there is more to life than this devastating eye condition. New members always welcome. For more info, ring Wendy on 0121 445 1585 or Alan on 01527 877864.

SPORT, FITNESS & HEALTH Redditch Ramblers is a growing, friendly and sociable group offering a full walks programme including: * A walk every Sun usually 7–9 miles * Once a month, a choice of a Sat ‘A’ walk (around 10 miles) and a Sun ‘B’ walk (about 6 miles) * Monthly Saturday Safari for a more challenging walk * Fortnightly Saturday Strollers (4–5 miles). Newcomers always welcome. In addition, the group arranges holidays, coach trips and social events through the year. Full into at redditch.ramblers@gmail. com or www.redditchramblers.org.uk Adult Coached Swim Training every Sunday 6pm–7pm at Bromsgrove Sports and Leisure Centre (School Drive, B60 1AY). Contact Andrew Cunnell on 0121 445 5210 or email: bits@bratclub.co.uk. All swimmers welcome. Redditch & Bromsgrove Company of Archers meet Oct–March on Weds 7.30pm and Fri 6.30pm at Studley Leisure Centre (indoors), and April–Sept on Mon 6.30pm and Fri 6.30pm at Meadow Park Football Ground (by Harris Brush Works – outdoors). Really friendly no-pressure club. New members always welcome (juniors from 8 years old, seniors from 18 to 80+, seasoned archers or absolute beginners). Beginners’ courses run throughout the year or taster sessions by appointment. Further info from Steve Thornton on 07811 575162 or 0121 445 5952. Physiotherapy-Led Pilates Classes on Monday mornings and Weds evenings at Cofton Hackett Village Hall. 6 lessons for £50. Mixed ability classes to improve muscle tone and posture as well as overall body strength. For full details contact Beth on 07841 477363 or elizabethalexanderltd@gmail.com ZUMBA with LEESH! Come and SHAKE it til you make it, every Monday 7.30–8.30pm at Crown Meadow School. Contact: 07531 625939 for more information! Slimming World at Lickey End Social Club (17 Alcester Road, B60 1JT) – come and join our warm and friendly group, every Thurs at 5.30pm and 7.30pm. More

bromsgrove on the eve of war The 33rd Bromsgrove Lecture, entitled Bromsgrove on the Eve of War: Our Town and District in 1939, will be held on Tues April 16 at 7.30pm in Routh Hall, Bromsgrove School. Local historian Pat Tansell will look at aspects of life in the district during the late 1930s, focusing in particular on 1939. Pat will recount stories describing how peoAbove: Gas mask lesson at a Bromsgrove school ple were preparing for the days to come. Topics will include ARP and as part of the evening. This light and Home Front preparations, the arrival cheery piece of music was written in of evacuees and Jewish refugees, and the 1930s and was among those comBromsgrove’s referendum on Sunday missioned to raise the spirits of the cinema opening. nation. To accompany the presentation, the Tickets £6 from Foto Factory, 123 25-piece Orchestra of St John will play High Street Bromsgrove, or at www. Bromsgrove Fair by Leslie Bridgewater bromsgrove-school.co.uk/boxoffice info from Tracey on 07989 105937. Tai Chi: would you like to make a positive change in 2019, help to relax, have a new interest and exercise? Classes at Finstall Village Hall, Wednesdays 2pm.

odist Hall, Greenhill, B60 1BL. Mon 7.15– 8.15pm, Weds 7.30–8.30pm, HIIT class Sat 8.15am. Kettlebells provided, all welcome. Contact Louise: 07792 229837. Facebook: ‘Kettlercise with Louise: North Bromsgrove’.

Calling all ROCKSTARS! Make some noise in the cardio jam session that is POUND! Every Wednesday 7.30–8.15pm at Crown Meadow School. Contact Leesh Waldron: 07531 625939. Booking required!

Alvechurch Village Society’s next walk is on March 3 when John and Sally Slevin (07957 821068) lead A Worcestershire Ramble. Meet at the Hopwood House Inn car park at 2.30pm. More info on the Society at www.alvechurchvs.org

Yoga Really Works: Yoga classes at Saint Nicolas Place, The Green at Kings Norton. Antenatal Thursdays, 6.25pm and Postnatal Fridays 11am (Stretch & Relax with baby). No Yoga experience necessary See www.yogareallyworks.co.uk for more info or Facebook /yogareallyworks BARNT GREEN Sailing Club offers regular sailing, either racing or casual sailing, in beautiful surroundings at Upper Bittell reservoir. For information contact secretary@bgsc.uk Term-Time Yoga Classes: Mondays 9.30– 10.30am, Cofton Hackett Village Hall. Classes £7.50 each with 4 weeks payable up front. Equipment provided. Please contact Sarah on 07970 072038 or hello@ themotorcyclingyogi.co.uk Briar Rose Field Archers is a field archery club based near Bromsgrove. There are two qualified coaches for those interested in taking up the sport. For information contact briarrosefieldarchers@gmail.com

Longbridge Ladies Cycling Club wants lovely new members! Weekly Weds and Sun rides, hotel and hostel weekends away, cycle camping adventures, social outings and much much more. Beginners and seasoned cyclists welcome. Call Deb on 07738982161, email debweston@aol. com or see www.longbridgeladies.co Barnt Green Fishing Club manages angling on the Bittell Reservoirs complex. Trout and coarse fishing are available. For further information and application forms email the Membership Secretary at bgfcmembership@outlook.com Saracen cycling Club is seeking new members. Men, ladies, beginners, and regular riders are all welcome. The longestablished club meets regularly by the Tardebigge Pub on Thurs at 10am and Sun at 9.45am. See www.saracenroadclub. com or call Ivor on 0121 453 2287. THE RAMBLERS, BROMSGROVE GROUP: Guided walking with our group for plea-

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continued from previous page sure, fitness and fun. Full programme of walks / events throughout the year. More info at www.bromsgroveramblers.webs. com or Clare on 01527 821917 or Peter on 01527 558203. ALVECHURCH WALKING Buddies: join a regular local walk with like-minded people who simply want to go on a local, sedate and friendly walk with no pressure. Wellbehaved owners and their dogs are very welcome. The group meets at 10.30am every Thurs. For more info, search for ‘alvwb’ on Facebook or contact Tony on 07763 468893. PILATES: ONE-TO-ONE tuition using studio Pilates equipment to improve body awareness, posture and fitness. An efficient mind and body workout – principles learned can be helpful in improving sports performance and functional fitness and managing pain. One-to-one tuition may lead to participation in studio and mat classes. Suitable for all ages and fitness levels. Call or text 07759 590830, email pilates@steff affleck.co.uk or visit www.steffaffleck.co.uk

Led by ECB Level 2 or Level 3 qualified coaches. No charge for first session. Refreshments available. Info from Simon Bowron on 07753 621528. For details of coaching for ages 12–16, contact Nick Jones on 07779 267609. Mercian Nordic Walking: Walking and exercise activities outdoors at the Ryland Centre and on local walking trails. Ian Northcutt BEM and his colleagues provide instruction and lead fun, friendly groups for all levels of fitness. More info at www. merciannordicwalking.co.uk One Fit Mama: Mother & Baby Wednesdays, 9.45am at Rowney Green Village Hall. Like us on Facebook: One Fit Mama Alvechurch, Barnt Green & Wythall. Barnt Green Sports Club holds a Badminton Social Open Evening each Thurs, 8pm to 11pm (Margesson Drive, Barnt Green, B45 8LR). No membership required. Players of all abilities welcome. More info from Nick Butcher on 0121 445 1978 or visit www.barntgreen sportsclub.co.uk

SOCIAL TENNIS takes place at Rubery Community & Leisure Centre, Holywell Lane, Rubery B45 9AD on Mondays from 1–3pm. The group would welcome a few more players – just turn up or ring Don on 01527 759 318 for further details.

Astwood Bank Angling Club has 8 lakes, including 2 just outside Alvechurch. Annual membership £57 adult, £42 conc, £10 juniors. Info at www.astwoodbankac. co.uk or contact Paul on 01527 522704 or abac.membership@virginmedia.com

Mindful yoga & Meditation classes, Day Retreats and Weekend Workshops. For Peace & Calm, Fitness, Vitality, & Better Sleep. For classes and bookings, contact Sally on 0790 366 3085 or classes@MyYoga Mind.co.uk; visit www.MyYoga Mind.co.uk or Facebook: Sally MyYogaMind

Alvechurch Cricket Club Pavilion (rear of 6 Birmingham Road) is available for meetings/functions/child and adult parties. Bowling alley, pool table, table football, darts, table tennis, excellent children’s entertainer and DJ. For details/availability, contact Pete Gwilliam on 07960 550884 or petergwilliam@btconnect.com

PILates & piloxing: (Pilates and boxing): ALL levels of fitness. Tues (Barnt Green) 7pm (Piloxing Express) and 7.30-8.30pm (Pilates Mat). Alison: 07790 916947, Facebook: ‘@AlisonBFit’, alibenford@yahoo. co.uk, www.alison-personaltrainer.com FIVE WAYS Old Edwardians’ Cricket Club at Ash Lane, Hopwood: Junior, Men’s and Women’s teams, come and join in! Open to all. Excellent facilities. Everyone welcome. Coaching for juniors on Fri evenings May to Aug. Contact Mark Tovey on 01527 835031. Junior cricket coaching at Alvechurch Cricket Club runs every Sun from 10am to noon throughout the season, for boys and girls aged five to 11. All abilities welcome to enjoy cricket in a friendly environment.

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CATSHILL FC offers youth coaching sessions each Saturday morning at Catshill Middle School, Meadow Road, Catshill, B61 0JW. Boys and girls from Reception age upwards are welcome. Contact Gary on 07462 118920 or see www.catshillfc.co.uk for further info. BROMSGROVE & REDDITCH Badminton Club welcomes players for social and league play. Playing Sunday evenings 5.40 to 7.40pm. Details from Steve Whittaker 07805 051456. THE NEW Ravens (North East Worcestershire Ravens Rugby League Club) play at Kings Norton Rugby Club, Hopwood Park, Ash Lane, Hopwood. Playing opportunities for men’s open age, juniors, women and

girls. Touch rugby will also be played for those not wishing to play full contact. Further details can be found on www. newravensrl.co.uk Rubery Taekwon-Do at Waseley Hills High School, Rubery on Thursdays and Bournville College, Longbridge on Fridays, with Yvonne (2nd Degree Black Belt). For more info email yvonne@rubery-tkd.co.uk or visit www.rubery-tkd.co.uk mobility session for seniors: Tues 9.30am at Alvechurch Baptist Church. Suitable for seniors who want to improve their mobility, strength and balance. Info from Hayley on 01527 881404. Kings Norton Rhinos offers contact and non-contact rugby for children from Reception to Year 12. A safe and friendly introduction to rugby – and plenty of outdoor fun and exercise! Training takes place at KNRFC Ash Lane, Hopwood, on Sundays from 10–11.30am. Contact Steve Washington on 07771 911209 or visit www.knrfc.co.uk Zumba Gold: Thurs 1.30pm at Alvechurch Baptist Church. A fun, energetic class retaining the vibrancy of Zumba but without the impact and twisting around, to accommodate the more senior participant. More Information from Hayley on 01527 881404. AEROBICS classes at Alvechurch School, Birmingham Rd, Tuesdays 7.30–8.30pm and Fridays 6.30–7.30pm. Lapsed or new members welcome. More info from Tony on 0121 445 1819. Tai Chi (Qigong) sessions in Alvechurch Village Hall on Mon 10–11am and Fri 11am–12noon. Qigong is an integration of physical postures, breathing techniques, and focused intentions. Tai Chi also takes place at Hopwood Village Hall on Tues 7pm (beginners) and 8pm (intermediate/ advanced), and Weds 10–11am. More details on 07831 743737, or see www. paintingtherainbow.co.uk for daytime classes and www.kaiming.co.uk for evening classes. Hopwood Ladies Cycling Club meets at Hopwood Playing Field on Tuesdays at 11.30 am and Wednesdays at 9.30 am. For more information, visit www.hopwoodladies cyclingclub.co.uk or phone Sheila Evans on 07779 530017. Karate classes take place every Tuesday and Thursday from 7–8pm at Hop-

Village Village What’s What’s On On wood Community Hall. First three Classes FREE. Call Colin on 01527 578880 or 07738 674023 or colin.abbott@homecall.co.uk

CHILDREN & FAMILIES Tots Play classes at Bromsgrove Girl Guiding Centre on Tuesdays. Social Tots 9.50am; Discovery Tots 10.50am; Baby Development 11.50am. More info from lucy@ totsplay.co.uk or 07709 453 756. Every Scout Group in Bromsgrove (which includes Barnt Green, Blackwell, Catshill, Finstall as well as the town centre) currently has girls and boys waiting to join, their numbers restricted by the ratio of adults to young people. A few more adults helping would enable existing leaders to open more Beaver Colonies and Cub Packs and allow more young people to experience Scouting. If you could spare a few hours, call Val on 01527 837060 or visit www.bromsgrovescouts.org.uk Pol pol’s Playtime Stay and Play is open for 0–4 year olds, 10am–12noon every Mon, Wed and Thurs at Rowney Green Village Hall. Toys, bouncy castle, crafts, singing, instruments and bubbles at the end of each session. Free tea and coffee. £4 per child and £1 per sibling. TINY CHURCH Lickey: babies, toddlers and carers meet in Holy Trinity Church, Lickey, on Weds from 11.15am–12.45pm during term times. Games, toys, snacks and stories, with a time to meet together with God. Just pop along or contact clive. rushton@btinternet.com RHYTHM TIME: Award-winning multi-sensory, fun music classes for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Classes in Alvechurch, Barnt Green, Lickey and Bromsgrove: see timetable at www.rhythmtime.net/vt374 or email: rhythmtimevicky@gmail.com BABY & TODDLER swimming classes with Turtle Tots: Thursdays 9.30–11.30am in Barnt Green. Teaching water confidence, key life-saving skills & stroke development. Great post-natal workout! More info: holly. wyer@turtletots.com Marlbrook Pre-School: St Luke’s Church Hall, Braces Lane. Learning through play from 2 years to school age. Mon–Fri, 9am–3pm, term-time only. Contact Tina: 07951 869175 or Sharon: 07913 486619. New NCT Home Birth Support Group in Alvechurch meets Sunday evenings in the

home of a volunteer. All welcome. Meet in an informal atmosphere, share concerns, get information and hear first-hand experiences. More info from Emilie on 07874 927 256 or emiliedeeringbfc@gmail.com St John’s Baby & Toddler Group meets every Friday morning between 9.15 and 11am during term time at St John’s church hall, Kidderminster Road, Bromsgrove. For further details please contact Cathy on 01527 870048 or just come along. CATSHILL TODDLERS Club meets at the Methodist Church, Golden Cross Lane, Catshill every Weds 1–3pm (except school hols). £1.50 per child (£1 for additional siblings; under 9 months free) includes drink and biscuit for you and your toddler, plus action toys, craft table, book corner, noisy instruments, and kicking footballs, learning to catch and having fun with hoops – all in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. For more information contact Sheila on 0121 445 2813 or drop in. You will be very welcome. Barnt Green Preschool is at the heart of the community. Open since 1978, it offers learning through play in a nurturing, home-from-home environment. The Preschool follows the Early Years Curriculum and with regular visits to St Andrew’s School and lots of outdoor space, it’s the perfect place to prepare your child for school. It is proud of its OFSTED report (ref 205125) and offers government-funded places. Sessions run 9am-12pm and/or 12pm-3pm Mon and Weds, and 9am-1pm Tues and Thurs. For more information or to get on the waiting list call Tina on 07790 017 777. Mum’s the Word playgroup takes place every Thursday in term time 9.30–11.20am at the Ark in Alvechurch. All are welcome, no charge; tea and coffee available for parents and grandparents. Come and join in! blackwell Baby & Toddler Group runs from 10–11.30am every Weds (term-time only) at Blackwell Methodist Church Hall, Greenhill, Blackwell B60 1BL. Small group run by local mums, all welcome. Great chance to meet local families and for your child to make new friends. Any questions please call Carrie on 07985 539983 or find the group on Facebook. MENTOR LINK is seeking volunteer mentors to support children and young people in local schools – full training given. The charity is particularly seeking male mentors to work with boys for an hour a week,

although female volunteers are also welcome. Anyone interested should be a good listener, patient and enjoy working with children and young people. If you can spare an hour or two a week, and you are able to commit to a minimum of six months volunteering, call Claire on 07973 572768, email Claire.Quinn@mentorlink. org.uk or for more info see www.mentorlink.org.uk Bromsgrove NCT Bumps and Babies Group now meets every Thursday, 10–11.30am at David Lloyd Fitness Centre, Slideslow Drive, B60 1GJ. The group is free and anyone is welcome, including toddler siblings. Contact Claire and Karen at bromsgrove@nct.org.uk Rowney Green Pre-school offers learning through play for children from two years to school age, Tues–Thurs 9am–2pm, term-time only. More info from Rosemary: 07836 770468 or Geraldine: 07725 553894. Lickey Baby & Toddler Group meets on Mon and Thurs mornings 9.30–11.30am, term time only. Have a hot drink while your children play in Lickey Trinity Centre (Parish Hall), Old Birmingham Road. For more information call Caroline on 07511 660727, email caroline_rebecca@hotmail. co.uk or find ‘Lickey Baby & Toddler Group’ on Facebook. The National Childbirth Trust is now running antenatal courses in Alvechurch. These are designed to help parents prepare for labour, birth and early parenthood and run over a number of weekday evenings and/or weekends. For info please call 0844 243 6873 or email bookings6d@ nct.org.uk or visit www.nct.org.uk/confidence Lickey End Playgroup runs Toddlers, PreSchool and Rising Stars sessions at Lickey End Methodist Church, B60 1JX. More information on 07791 851382 or at www.lickeyendplaygroup.co.uk Finstall Pre-school in Finstall Village Hall, Mon–Thur 9.30am–1.15pm (termtime only). Led by qualified lower primary teacher. Visits welcome; call 07903 560787 or email Finstallpreschool@hotmail.com New Road Parents Support for parents of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans children meets monthly in Aston Fields. A confidential, voluntary, small support group for parents by parents. Individual meetings can

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Mother Goose (pantomime) Dec.18th - 22nd at Artrix, Bromsgrove.

continued from previous page be arranged with another parent if preferred. Close links with FFLAG. Visit www. newroad parents.org, email evansmargar@ gmail.com or call Maggie on 01527 832492 for details.

games & COMPETITIONS Shirley and Wythall Chess Club meets at Wythall Community Association in Silver Street, Wythall, B47 6LZ, every Thurs from 7.30pm. The club has four teams playing in competitive leagues. Friendly atmosphere. New players are most welcome, either just turn up or contact Barry Knee on 01564 826250 for details. The ALVECHURCH Templars Wargames Club meets most Monday evenings from 6.30pm at the Alvechurch Sports & Social Club. Visit (or join) the ‘Alvechurch Templars’ Facebook page for details or e-mail Karl Farrell at bluenostrils@outlook.com A WHIST DRIVE takes place every Weds from 7.15–9.30pm at Buckley’s Green Community Centre, Alvechurch (B48 7NG). The friendly group welcomes new members. £2 entry, includes raffle ticket and prizes. BROMSGROVE BRIDGE Clubs: The Amphlett Bridge Club meets at the Stroke Centre in Church Lane, Bromsgrove, on Mon evenings. New members welcome, helpful guidance available and parking is excellent. Contact Alistair on 07814 393416. SPADESBOURNE BRIDGE Club plays at the Life After Stroke Centre in Church Lane, Bromsgrove. Join the group for friendly bridge in a pleasant venue on Thurs evenings, 7pm for a 7.15 start. They aim to finish by 10pm. Table money for visitors is £3. Phone Jan on 01905 772256 for more details. Monday Bridge Club at Barnt Green Friends Meeting House would like to welcome a few new members – contact the organiser, Des Clarke, on 0121 453 3034.

and visitors are very welcome. Play starts at the new time of 7pm. For further details phone Gill on 01527 401019. Bromsgrove Bridge Club meets at the Life After Stroke Centre, Church Lane, Bromsgrove each Tues – play commences 7.30pm; doors close at 7.25pm. Table money (to include coffee/tea and biscuits) £3 for members, £4 for visitors, who are always welcome. The club operates a host system, which means a partner is guaranteed. Contact the Secretary, Sally Flood on 01527 832468. BINGO every Wednesday and Sunday evening at the Alvechurch Sports & Social Club. First games start at 8.30pm in the lounge. Non-members welcome, phone 0121 445 2121 for more info. A QUIZ takes place every Thursday from 8.30–10.30 pm at Bridley Moor & Batchley Social Club, Bridley Moor Road, Batchley B97 6HS. £1 to enter; all money to the winning team. There is also stand-up bingo with a prize. For more info call quizmaster Dave on 07815 456178. “managed” duplicate bridge sessions are run by Anne Glendenning and Eugene Elijah every Tues (1pm prompt start) at Burcot Village Hall, Alcester Road (B4096) – perfect for emerging players. Entry £3.50 covers session, some tuition and refreshments. Info from Anne on 01527 882169 or Eugene on 01527 871255 or 1944@ hotmail.co.uk Bromsgrove Board Gamers is a friendly group which meets at 7.30pm each Weds at the Ladybird Inn, Aston Fields. More info on Facebook ‘Bromsgrove Board Gamers’. Rummikub Club meets in the Social Room at Rowney Green Peace Hall fortnightly on Tuesdays from 2–4pm. Entry £2 to include tea and biscuits. You will be made very welcome! Info from Betty Oakley on 01527 63725.

A “TEXAS HOLD EM” poker tournament will be held on the first Saturday each month in the lounge at Alvechurch Sports & Social Club. Registration from 7pm for an 8pm start. Further info from Karl Farrell on 0121 445 4616 or bluenostrils@outlook.com

Halesowen Bridge Club offers Chicago Bridge on Thursdays at 2pm in the United Church Hall, Hagley Road, Halesowen B63 4PX and is seeking new members. All are welcome. Within easy reach of Bromsgrove; parking is available. For info ring Ann Gittins on 0121 550 5246 or see www. halesowenbridgeclub.org.uk

The Friday Bridge Club plays friendly, competitive, duplicate bridge at the comfortable Burcot Village Hall. New members

Barnt Green Duplicate Bridge Club meets at St Andrew’s Church Hall each Weds afternoon and would like new mem-

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bers – contact Liz on 07538 092296. A popular weekly quiz takes place each Thursday at Alvechurch Sports & Social Club and follows the normal format. Doors open at 8pm. Organise a team, or just turn up and join a team. All welcome.

HELP & ADVICE REDDITCH & BROMSGROVE Advanced Motorist Group are a local charity committed to helping drivers of all ages improve their driving skills. They meet at 7.30pm on the third Weds each month in Beoley Village Hall. Info from Geoff Poole on 07707 054757 or secretary@redditcham.org.uk The Library Service at Home provides free delivery of books to people in their own homes. If you are housebound or unable to visit the library then please call Alvechurch Library on 01905 822722 to find out how they can provide you with brilliant reads. Divorced/separated and having trouble seeing your children? Being excluded from their lives? The Association for Shared Parenting has been helping mums and dads deal with the family court system and problems over contact and residence for over 20 years. Walk-in support workshops on the first Thurs each month at 7.30pm in Selly Oak (serving the Bromsgrove/ Redditch area). Visit www.associationforsharedparenting.org.uk Barnt Green Day Care: Thursdays 10am– 2.45pm at St Andrew’s Parish Centre. Offering a day out with care and lunch for older people in the local area. For more info on attending or helping ring Christine Davis on 0121 445 0125. ALVECHURCH LIBRARY hosts one-to-one Computer Sessions for people wanting to learn the basics. If you need help with your emails or advice on surfing online then why not pop into the Library to arrange for free tuition, provided by talented volunteers on Tuesday mornings. For more information please call The Hub on 01905 822722 or pop into Alvechurch Library.

GARDENS & FLOWERS WYCHBOLD FLOWER Club meets nearly every 2nd Tues of the month (unless there’s an outing) at 7.30pm in the Royal British Legion Hall, De Wyche Road, Wychbold WR9 7PN. The varied and interesting programme includes demos, workshops, garden visits and garden party, and

Village What’s On there’s also a plant stall and raffle. Visitors welcome – just £4 to include refreshments. More info from Barbara on 01299 851282. Rowney Green Flower Club usually meets on the 4th Thurs of the month at Rowney Green Village Hall at 7.30pm. On March 28 there’s a demonstration by professional florist Minh Lane. All welcome to go along, pick up a few tips and enjoy a cuppa. All arrangements raffled at the end of the evening. Small, friendly informal club – new members/visitors very welcome. £3 entry including refreshments. More info from Felicity on 0121 445 2371. Dodford Gardening Club meets on the 2nd Monday each month (except August) usually in Dodford Village Hall at 7.45pm. New members and visitors welcome. More info at www.dodford gardeningclub.co.uk or call Penny on 07706 153618. ROWNEY GREEN Horticultural Society usually meets at the Village Hall on the 2nd Thurs each month at 7.30pm. On March 8 the group welcomes Harry Green, head gardener at Morton Hall Gardens, who will present Extracts of the Head Gardener’s Journal with tips on the techniques he uses. Guests always welcome: £3.50 including refreshments. For more info contact Lindsay Smith on 01527 592874. Rosehill Flower Arrangement Society meets at The Trinity Centre (Lickey Parish Hall) Old Birmingham Road, B45 8EU, on the second Monday each month (except January). Refreshments served before each meeting. Meetings start at 2pm. For further info please call Diana on 01527 870549 or Belinda on 0121 447 7477, or visit www.tcandsw.org.uk/rosehill/html Burcot Gardening Club meets on the first Weds each month at Burcot Village Hall. Meetings start at 7.30pm. New members and visitors very welcome. For more info call Jenny or Brian on 01527 522109. Solihull & District Orchid Society meets on the 1st Sat each month at St George & St Teresa’s Parish Centre, Station Road, Dorridge B39 8EZ. New members and visitors welcome, and members are always willing to offer help or advice. For more info or advice call Malcolm Moodie on 01295 788159 or see www.solihullorchidsociety.org Fun Flower Arranging/Floristry Classes and Workshops. Thurs evenings at The Ark, St Laurence Church, Alvechurch. Contact

LOVE YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY! Alvechurch Library Crafty Ladies Spring Sale is on Mon March 18, 9.30am– 1pm and 2–4pm. This talented group will be selling amazing hand crafted-gifts in aid of local charities, including Easter themed presents such as little chicks and Easter egg holders. There will also be a raffle, homemade cakes and a £1 bargain toiletries table.

l Chess Club meets every Sat morning

l An Easter Wreath Making Workshop

group meets monthly on Mondays from 3.30–4.30pm for children aged 8-12 years. The sessions focus on fun, creative activities based on reading and books.

(course number 16673) is on Tues April 16, 12.30–3.30pm, cost £19. Produce your own reusable Easter decoration with fun and quirky materials and basic floristry techniques. Book quickly to bag a place! l Explore Learning Writing Competi-

tion Workshops take place on Mon April 15 and Tues April 23, both from 2.15– 3.15pm for children aged 6-10 years. Start writing your story for the chance to win a trip to Disneyland Paris! No need to book, just turn up. l The next Double Stamp Event for

Young People’s Reward Card holders is on Sat March 2 from 11.30–12.30pm. Look out for more details on Facebook. If you are aged 11-24 years then sign up for the card to receive rewards. Read, Repeat, Reward! Claire for more information on 07564 339157. Website: www.clairewm.wixsite. com/floralcreations BROMSGROVE FLOWER Club meets on the 3rd Thurs each month at 2.15pm (except Jan) in All Saints Church Hall, Burcot Lane, Bromsgrove B61 1AE. On March 21, national demonstrator Lorena Dyer will create beautiful floral arrangements with the title Lipstick, Powder and Paint. There’s a flower-arranging competition for members entitled Take Three Flowers and a Flower of the Month competition. New members welcome. Enjoy a relaxing afternoon with a cup of tea and biscuits, and you may be lucky enough to win a raffle prize of one of Lorena’s arrangements. For more info contact Wendy Robertson (Secretary) on 01905 480571. THE NORTH Worcestershire Fuchsia Society meets on the 2nd Weds each month at Bromsgrove Sports & Social Club, 7.45pm. Info from Stewart on 01527 877662.

ART & LITERATURE

from 11am–12noon, run by an experienced player and coach. It provides an opportunity to play friendly games and to participate in lessons and coaching. Open to juniors (with parents) and adults at all levels of ability from beginners to grandmasters. No charge. l The ChatterBooks children’s book

l Patrick’s French and Spanish classes

continue throughout the year, three days a week. Email Patrick at vdlt52@hotmail. co.uk or call 07708 027372 to see if the level the class is being taught at would allow you to join in. Numbers in the classes fluctuate – French is pretty well fully booked but there are a couple of spaces in either of the Spanish classes. Get ready for those summer holidays! l For any enquiries, pop into the library

on Birmingham Road, contact The Hub on 01905 822722, email alvechurchlib@ worcestershire.gov.uk or see Facebook. For Adult Learning courses, pop in to pay by cash/cheque, or online by card. ciable sewing workshops at Alvechurch Village Hall. For more details call Lorna on 07963 734756 or visit www.allaboutthesew.com Withybed Poets are a group of poetry writers who meet in Withybed Green to share their poems and write together. They are open to anyone who enjoys writing and sharing poetry. They love reading their poems to audiences, which they do at the monthly Acoustic Roots in Alvechurch, but also for libraries, churches, community groups and festivals. They write poems on request for people and special occasions. Next meeting is March 13 at 7.30pm; for details, or to ask about commissioning a poem, ring Mary on 0121 445 5957. Forge Mill Creative Textile Group (formerly Forge Mill Embroidery & Textile Group) are a friendly group of enthusiastic local crafters, both experienced and beginners, who meet weekly on Fri mornings at Beoley Village Hall. Various techniques and media are used to create textile artwork, such as printing, dyeing, hand and

continues overleaf

All About The Sew holds fun and so-

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Village What’s On continued from previous page machine embroidery, along with fabric manipulation. They are a leisure learning and development group and work to a set programme. If you are interested in becoming a member, contact Lynda on 0121 445 3212 or Lyn on 0121 258 2771. Art & Soul Creative – artist and potter offering tutored art and pottery activities in Alvechurch. All abilities welcome. Call Marina on 0121 445 0655, email artand soulcreative.org@gmail.com or visit www. artandsoulcreative.org Alvechurch Readers Group now meets in the library on the last Tuesday of the month from 2pm until 3.30pm. New members always welcome. Please ring the Hub on 01905 822722 and ask for Alvechurch Library or pop into the library on the Birmingham Road. Alvechurch Art Group meets at the Baptist Hall (rear of church) every Tues from 1–3.30pm, using all mediums except oil. All welcome, especially beginners. Friendly tuition. Call Paul on 0121 445 5437 or drop in. Barnt Green Art Club runs a morning and afternoon tutored session on Fridays at The Friends Meeting House in Barnt Green. There is a waiting list for both sessions. Call Jackie on 0121 445 4745. Burcot Woodturning Club offers a friendly meeting place for woodturners of all abilities and experience. A varied programme includes demos, talks, handson practical evenings and visits to exhibitions. The group meets on the first Thurs each month, 7.15–9.30pm at Burcot Village Hall. Info from John on 0121 458 5884 or visit www.burcotwoodturners.org.uk ALVECHURCH Library is available to host day and short courses such as card-making or scrapbooking. If you have a skill to teach or share, call 01905 822722. Bromsgrove Art Society usually meets on the 3rd Weds each month (except Jan and Aug) at Burcot Village Hall, 340 Alcester Road, Burcot, Bromsgrove, B60 1BH, at 7.30pm. Entry £1 for members and £4 for non-members. Visitors welcome. For more info email lyndasharp2010@yahoo.com or visit www.bromsgroveartsociety.org.uk THE “CRAFTY Ladies” craft group meets every Monday morning in Alvechurch Library from 10am–1pm, with knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting etc. An

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informal and self running group that uses shared library space. More info on 01905 822722.

of each month in Beoley Village Hall at 7.30pm. For more info please contact Georgia Jacobs on 01527 62766.

WYTHALL WRITERS meet at the Peter Thompson Room at St Mary’s Church, Shawhurst Lane on the second Thurs each month. New members always welcome. More info from Helen on 01564 824517, Eileen on 01564 822214, Louise on 0121 430 4992 or www.wythall writers.com

Lickey WI meets on the first Tues of every month at 7.30pm in the Parish Hall (Trinity Centre), Old Birmingham Road, Lickey. More info from President Janet Ratcliffe on 0121 445 0163 or see www.LickeyWI. Wordpress.com

Avoncroft Arts Society at Avoncroft Arts Centre (Redditch Road, Bromsgrove B60 4JR), runs tutored/ non-tutored classes in Art, Textiles, Ceramics, Embroidery and Dance. Contact Alyson or Joyce on 01527 833829 or avoncroftarts@ btconnect.com LICKEY HILLS ART SOCIETY, a friendly bunch of artists and those interested in art, meet at Longbridge Methodist Church, Bristol Road, B45 9TY, on the first Sat each month at 7.30pm. Open to artists and non-artists alike. For more info call Graham on 0121 453 7097 or come along – the members would love to see you.

WOMEN’S INSTITUTES FINSTALL CROSS WI meets at Finstall Village Hall on the second Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm. For more info see www. finstallcrosswi.wordpress.com or email finstallcrosswi@gmail.com Fairfield WI meets in Fairfield Village Hall on the second Weds of the month at 7.30pm. Contact Carol Hine on 01527 873072 or fairfieldwi1932@gmail.com St Catherine’s WI meets at 7.30pm on the third Thursday each month, in ‘The Wheel’ at Blackwell. More information from Sue Barratt on 01527 596092 or s.barratt@bnvillej.bham.sch.uk Hillside at ALVECHURCH WI meets at 7.45 pm on the first Weds each month at The Ark, Alvechurch. For more info call Pat McDonagh on 0121 628 4121. Blackwell & BURCOT WI meets at Burcot Village Hall on the second Weds each month, at 2pm. For info call President Mrs Barbara Knight on 0121 445 3456. Finstall & Cofton Hackett WI meets on the first Monday of the month at Finstall Village Hall at 2pm. For more info call President Val Wheeler on 01527 874518. BEOLEY WI meets on the first Tuesday

RUBERY WI meets at Beacon Church Centre, Whetty Lane, on the second Wednesday each month at 7.30pm. More info from Judie Fisher on 07810 765314. Bromsgrove WI meets at the Life after Stroke Centre, Church Lane, Bromsgrove B61 8RA on the second Tues each month at 2.15 pm. For more info please contact Christine Hickman-Smith 01527 870342 or email christine.hs@uwclub.net Bentley Pauncefoot WI meets at 7.30pm on the second Tues every month at Bentley Village Hall. More info from Vivien Mackenzie on 0121 445 1245. Barnt Green WI meets at the Baptist Church in Barnt Green on the third Thurs each month, from 7.30–9.30pm. More info from Alyson Williams on 0121 445 6577. Hopwood WI meets at Hopwood Village Hall on the first Thurs of the month at 7.30pm. For more info call Ann Thurrell on 0121 447 7668. ARK ANGELs WI meets on the second Monday each month from 7.30pm at the Ark, Alvechurch. For more info email ark.angels@hotmail.com Bromsgrove Belles WI meets on the second Monday each month at The Life After Stroke Centre, Church Lane, Bromsgrove, B61 8RA at 7.30pm. For more info, contact President Carla Priddon at carlapriddon@aol.com ALVECHURCH WI meets on the second Monday each month in Alvechurch Village Hall, at 7.30pm. For more information email President Julie Hurlston on presidentalvechurchwi@gmail.com

To have your event or group listed here, send details to Sally Oldaker via the addresses on Page 3, by March 15.

Village People

Bromsgrove boys win BAFTA for short film

Seven-year-old Barnt Green resident Jake JeffJohnston receives his prizes from Bromsgrove Golf Club's head coach, Rob Laing, at the club’s annual junior awards. He won the C-League champion's trophy plus seven medals for individual events throughout 2018. Jake, whose handicap is 32 (down from 54 since last summer) also represented the club in the Junior West Midlands League.

Two former Bromsgrove school pupils have won a BAFTA for their short film. Alex Lockwood, who attended South Bromsgrove High School and now lives in Stourbridge, and Oliver Walton, who went to North Bromsgrove High School and now lives in Catshill, won Best British Short Film for their documentary, 73 Cows. With Alex (left) as director and Oliver as cinematographer, the film tells the story of a Derbyshire farmer who became a vegan and decided to send his beef herd to an animal sanctuary instead of the slaughterhouse. 73 Cows was also nominated for Best Local Film at the 2018 Birmingham Film Festival.

Village Baking

Treats for Mum M

Keen baker Jen Morris, of Rowney Green, suggests pretty ‘daisy cakes’ as a simple gift for Mothering Sunday.

othering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent – this year on March 31 – and historically was a time when children who lived and worked away from home would visit their home church and their family, taking a gift for their mother. Traditionally it is said that the gift would have been wild flowers picked from the hedgerows. Much better that we leave the flowers to grow where they are and instead take homemade daisy cakes as a gift. These are also good if you are looking for a fun activity to do with children on Mothering Sunday; the decoration requires a little concentration, which might provide a few minutes of quiet and calm!

Ingredients: l 200g butter, cubed and softened l 200g marzipan, cubed and at room temperature l 75g caster sugar l 275g self-raising flour l 5 eggs, beaten l 2 tbsp milk l 200g glace cherries, halved l 200g sultanas l 25g flaked almonds, for decorating Method: 1) Pre-heat oven to 150C / Gas 2. Put 20 muffin cases into 2 x 12-hole muffin tins. 2) Beat together the butter, marzipan and sugar with an electric whisk, until pale and fluffy.

3) Add the flour and eggs and beat together. Stir in the milk and vanilla extract; the mixture should have a soft dropping consistency. 4) Reserve 20 cherry halves for decorating, then stir the remainder, with the sultanas, into the mixture. Spoon mixture evenly into the muffin cases. 5) Arrange the flaked almonds in flower shape on the top of each cake and place a cherry half in the centre. 6) Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20–25 minutes until golden brown. 7) Cool slightly on a wire rack. The Village

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VISIT US AT: BROMSGROVE: Saxon Park, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, B60 4AD - 01527 835924 STUDLEY: Alcester Road, Studley, Warwickshire, B80 7AG - 01527 857772 KENILWORTH: Leyes Lane, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2DE - 01926 855044 SHIRLEY: 153 Stratford Road, Shirley, Solihull, B90 3AY - 0121 744 0989

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