Churchyard Tidt Up

Photography & Fine Art

• Fine Art reproductions, all sizes to 2ft x 6ft • Digital repair of old photographs, slides, and negatives • Perfect copies of your cherished old photographs • 64 bit scans of prints and negatives up to large format • High Resolution Photography, interior and exterior • 46 years experience; many references • Committed to excellence

T 01672 521122 E philip@astroprints.com W astroprints.com A 52 Ashley Piece, Ramsbury

BAYDON MOWERS

GARDEN MACHINERY SPECIALIST

WELDING GAS SUPPLIER (MIG & TIG) All makes of new machines Trade-ins taken Collection and Delivery Spare Parts Servicing & Repairs Warranty

01672 841207

Monday - Friday; 9am - 5.30pm Saturday; 9am - 12.30pm Unit 1 Skylarks, Bytham Road, Ogbourne St George, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1TD

baydonmowers.co.uk

PLUMBING & HEATING

FRANCIS ANDREW

Central Heating Installation & Repairs Boiler Installation & Repairs Landlord Certificates Bathroom & Kitchen Installations All domestic Plumbing No call out charges Free estimates 24hr service Fully Qualified & Insured

Mob: 07720 245333 Home: 01793 791542 Email: faplumbing@hotmail.com

Mike Dunne

Member of the ICS Church View Cottage, 28 Froxfield Marlborough SN8 3LD 01672 551529 and 01488 682308 chimneymen@gmail.com www.mjdunne.co.uk

Could you be/would you like to be a school Governor?

Our local communities are very good at “giving back” to society. We volunteer in charities or other voluntary organisations. At the same time many of us are parents or Grandparents with children learning in our schools. Yet few people consider being a school Governor where they can influence the way our schools are run. Why? Probably because they don’t know what being a Governor entails. It is however one of the great volunteering roles and maybe you should consider it.

I want to put a few thoughts on paper and encourage you to think about becoming a school Governor. If you are interested, I’d like to hear from you! A school is very much like any organisation. It needs staff (teachers and support staff) to run the school on a day to day basis and it needs a Board of Governors to ensure the longer term success of the school and to have oversight of how things are going. Governors are encouraged to visit their school regularly but they don’t get involved in the day to day running. The Head Teacher and school’s senior leadership team are accountable to the Board to ensure things run smoothly. Schools always face challenges, mainly about adequate funding. Recently, though, the pandemic has created a slew of extra challenges which schools have tackled head on and generally very successfully. This is thanks to school staff and Governors working closely together. Without this co-operation things can easily go wrong. Ramsbury Primary school, is an OFSTED rated outstanding school and a forward thinking, outward looking school. It is fun to be involved with and excels in many areas including music (Our music teacher recently won Best Music teacher in Wiltshire) and sport where we have won numerous awards over the past few years. As a Governing Body we meet regularly as a full Board. However, much of the work is done in one of our several committees. As well as coming to committee meetings Governors come into school to support staff by talking to teachers, having the occasional lunch with the children and to generally gauge the mood of the school.

We do presently need Governors, especially with Human Resources, financial or strategic experience. Educational experience is not necessary. If you have any or all of those skills please seriously consider joining us. We are a friendly and professional bunch of people. If you do want to join us do be prepared to give it some of your time, probably an average of a day a month. Ramsbury Primary is a key part of the Ramsbury community and we take part, where we can, in community activities such as helping the village win best kept large Village in Wiltshire. In return we need members of the community to work with us as volunteers and especially as Governors. If you would like to influence our vision in helping the school “Be the best that it can be” please contact me: Ashley.desafrin@

ramsbury.wilts.sch.uk

Ashley de Safrin,Chair of Governors, Ramsbury Primary School

Part-P Qualified NICEIC Registered Sockets, Lights Re-wires Extensions Fuse-boards & more

T 01672 520147 M 07747 414493

Tree & Hedge Planting Fencing & Seeding All Grass Cutting Undertaken

Tractor-drawn mower available for large jobs Ride on or hand mowers for smaller jobs

Tel: 01672 520637 Mobile: 07502 265 376

Leverton Framers

Bespoke Picture Framers & Mirrors

2 Leverton Farm Buildings, Leverton, Nr Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 0TA Tel: 01488 684077 www.levertonframers.co.uk BY APPOINTMENT ONLY Tuesday – Saturday Closed on Sunday and Monday

Beautiful well-equipped hall, available for hire for all types of events. Contact us on:

vh_enquiries@

chiltonfoliat.com or vh_bookings@chiltonfoliat.com or 07435 307279 for further information and pricing.

Fully insured, high quality home improvements and private/commercial property maintenance 07917 434466 or 07770 878800 nickwaite.qps@aol.co.uk

Free Home Delivery www.sumblerbrosbutchers.co.uk 11 London Road, Marlborough SN8 1PH

01672 512185

It’s the autumn of 1939. War has just been declared and two frightened little girls find themselves on a train bound for

Wiltshire.

Mollie and Patsy’s mother had died just a month before and now their lives depend on the uncertain help of strangers. This is the story of how the worst of nightmares had the happiest of endings, thanks to the generosity of the Ramsbury family who welcomed them into the warmth of their Back Lane home.

Sadly, the world is still too full of refugee children desperate for love, but Pat Begalla’s heart-warming story is a reminder of what simple human kindness can achieve, even amidst the privations of war. What’s more, the proceeds of this lovely book will help to maintain Ramsbury’s beautiful church and grounds for everyone and for always. Published by the Friends of Holy Cross, 32 pages and 11 illustrations Price £5

On sale in Ramsbury Post Office from Monday 1 November, or if you need help obtaining your copy just contact:

Rowan Whimster

01672521525 or

07714752205 rowanwhimster@ gmail.com

Patricia Begalla was born in Balham in 1936 but most of her formative childhood years were spent as a wartime evacuee in the Wiltshire village of Ramsbury, to which she returned regularly once the war was over.

After a short spell as a Whitehall civil servant she emigrated in 1957 to Canada, later moving down to the United States where she developed a new career as an editor and copywriter, eventually managing the Los Angeles editorial office of the best-selling novelist Irving Wallace. Creative writing has always been in her blood but life as a single mother prevented her from making it a full-time career. Instead, she wrote short stories in her spare time and launched a successful magazine for aspiring writers called Published. Since her retirement she has lived in southern California but continues to remember with great affection the Wiltshire village that welcomed her long ago into its protective arms.