Community events calendar

Two Southdown churches held community events at exactly the same time on Saturday, as both had been unaware of what the other was planning to do when making the arrangements! Still, there was plenty of time to go the Community Celebration at Southdown Methodist Centre as well as the Open Day at St Joseph's marking its 40th anniversary.

The Community Celebration at the Methodist Centre, which is at the top of The Hollow, featured the usual mix of fun things for people of all ages. In the hall there were plenty of stalls selling cards, toys, cakes and bric-a-brac etc. Below left is a photo of Bea running the cake stall.

Some games and challenges were prepared outside on the lawn. Below right is a photo of Ryan doing the hockey challenge (you had to zig-zag a hockey ball through the markers in 15 seconds).

Then along to St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church which is a short distance away at Sladebrook Avenue, where there was a fete going on in the grounds. Above left is a photo of Karen, Louisa, Katie and Annie from a Bath Rainbow Guides group, selling some craft items the children made.

Inside there was a display of the history of the church. The first worship on the site had taken place in a hut church constructed in about 1945, before the modern building was built in 1969. During the war a searchlight station had been set up there to spot enemy aircraft. Above right is some equipment from it that was recently discovered under the church. The small round black handle was used for tapping out morse code messages.

It was interesting to meet with some of the area's fairly large Roman Catholic community, and I hadn't been inside this church before. You can see a photo of the interior here. The basement is where the St Joseph's Snooker Club play their games - you can see what the room looks like here. Telephone 0797 6715157 if you want join the snooker club.

Joe, 28/06/09

A message has been posted on the Forum thanking Twerton Councillor Tim Ball for his help and support given to a local resident. Check it out here. Well done Tim.

Joe, 23/06/09

Sunday's table top sale at The White Horse Pub was a chance to pick up a bargain on one of the stalls and sit in the pub garden with a pint of something. The scene was never especially busy but there was steady trade throughout the day.

Originally the money raised was to go to the Royal United Hospital, but pub regulars said they had gotten bored with the same cause each year, so landlady Jacqui will be sending the £60 raised to Dorothy House Hospice Care instead.

Some local people named Sian, Annie and her daughter Jo set up a nice stall with lots of children's clothes and other items. This was the first time they had sold things in a table top sale and they seemed quite pleased to have given it a go. Christine and John from Oldfield Park had a stall selling gifts that they bring back from Kerala in India each year.

On the barbecue there was lots of lovely grub. You could have a burger, sausage, lamb chop or chicken drumstick with salad and boiled potatos. Chill out time.

Joe, 22/06/09

It's been a while since the 100 Bladud pig sculptures we had in Bath were auctioned off to raise money for good causes. Where most of the pigs ended up is something of a mystery, but Mr John Rawlings of Whiteway has spotted one in someone's garden at Compton Dando (below left) and sent in a photo. The Bladud Pigs website reveals that this one is called Cowpig and it was made by the folk at Radstock Youth Centre.

Which raises the question, what happened to Stereotype Pig produced by the young people at our own Southside Youth Centre? It was displayed in the stairwell of the Podium (pictured above right) before being sold to raise money for the Two Tunnels Project. But then where did it go?

If anyone knows the answer please send it in, or post it on the Forum. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of another pig crafted by the pupils at Culverhay School are more clear. This one, called Friedensreich, found its way to the farm shop at the Neston Park country estate near Corsham, as reported by the newspaper article here.

Joe, 21/06/09

Weekend

On Saturday there will be a garden party with cream teas at the Carrswood Day Service, Cleeve Green, from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. You will need to buy a ticket from Carrswood Day Service in advance. Tickets cost £3 for adults and £2 for children.

On Sunday there will be a table top sale and barbecue at The White Horse Pub, Shophouse Road, from 11am onwards. Money raised from this event will go towards a baby unit at the Royal United Hospital.

Crafts

The Community Learning Service is organising a day of free craft workshops to be held at Bath City Football Club, Twerton High Street on 7th July. You can learn Chinese brush painting and how to make a felt pot and decorated gift box. For more details see the flyer here.

Football

Evening football for young people is now held at Culverhay Sports Centre at the bottom of Rush Hill on Thursdays. The session for 8 to 12 year-olds starts at 5pm, followed by the session for 13 to 16 year-olds at 6pm.

Street dance

A new Street Dance for Beginners workshop has started in the Church Rooms at the top end of Twerton High Street. It is for young people aged 11 to 18 and the sessions run on Wednesdays from 5pm to 5.45pm in term time.

Joe, 17/06/09

Permission has been granted for the redevelopment of the Marjorie Whimster care home in Twerton High Street, with the erection of 19 affordable dwellings and 10 extra care housing flats for young adults with learning difficulties.

An archaeological survey of the site had to be conducted. The report says that by 1742 the front of the site was occupied by Carlton Buildings and Barratt's Buildings, which survived until the 1960s. 18th century maps also show possible further dwellings to the rear. By 1838 these had been replaced by Penny's Buildings, Chapel Close and a Wesleyan Chapel, which were demolished soon after WWII.

The Avon Archaeological Unit dug seven trenches around the site to see if there were significant buried archaeological remains. Trenches 1 to 4 located at the front of the site facing the High Street, uncovered remains of the buildings that had once stood there, including a flagstone surface that had probably been part of Barratt's Buildings. A small well of possible 18th century date or earlier was also discovered.

Trench 5 was dug on the east of the site near The Old Crown. It uncovered a stone floor that looked like it had belonged to a building marked as a slaughterhouse on a map of 1838. Trenches 6 and 7 were made to the rear where there had been gardens or orchards in the past. Among other objects, some 18th and 19th century pieces of clay tobacco pipe were found.

Interestingly a few of the trenches revealed fragments of medieval pottery, some of which may have been made as early as the 10th to 11th centuries. Most of the pottery seems to have been jars and jugs, with some items showing sooty marks where they had been used in cooking. Twerton has been inhabited for a long time.

Joe, 13/06/09

The news items in this section summarise parts of a newsletter recently emailed by the elected Councillors for the Southdown Ward, Paul Crossley and Dine Romero. If you want to receive the full newsletter by email, contact Paul Crossley . You can also read their Southdown blog here.

Hillcrest Field

The Council is in the process of selecting a contractor to build a play area in Hillcrest Field. The Children's Society will meet with the succesful contractor to discuss feedback from a consultation with residents that took place earlier this year, in order to develop some ideas that can be put out for more consultation.

Therefore the next public meeting will be held in Hillcrest Field on Saturday 27th June from 10am until midday, when residents can discuss the ideas with the Children's Society and, hopefully, the contractor. There will also be a bug hunt to record what is in the field in late June.

Whiteway Road

The Whiteway Road stretching from Pennyquick to Odd Down will be resurfaced in August. The work is expected to take up to 3 weeks to complete but will be carried out in sections to minimise disruption. The junction with Newton Road will be included in the resurfacing.

Mount Road

The Neighbourhood Watch in Mount Road is now up and running. During June and July, Paul and Dine will be calling on all houses in the road to inform everyone of the new scheme and its benefits. Contact Paul and Dine if you would like to set one up in your road.

Garden sharing

The Bath Area Garden Share will be launched soon. The idea is to bring together people with gardens they are not using with people who want to garden but cannot get an allotment. If you have an unused garden or would like to garden, you can find out more here.

Clean up

The latest Deep Clean Keep Clean operation produced a lot of activity. Information stalls were postioned by the Mount Road shops, grafitti was removed from several locations, litter hotspots were dealt with and footpaths in Langdon road were washed down.

The work in Whiteway was particularly succesful, with residents of all ages organising a metal collection and a project to turn old tyres into plant pots, as well as generally assisting with the collecting and tidying up. A report on the Whiteway clean up can be read here.

PO counter

The campaign to install a Post Office counter inside the Co-op at Mount Road is continuing, with a web petition and a Facebook group page set up in support of that cause. Dine has taken paper petitions to the shops at Mount Road.

The Post Office management are going to check the overcrowding and overuse at the Moorland Road branch and see how other nearby Post Offices are performing. They will be looking at Mount Road but require evidence that extra services would be taken out by customers.

Southdown Road

Southdown Road is due for treatment under the Carriageway Structural Maintenance Programme in 2011/12. It is also subject to 6 monthly routine safety inspections, as well as any investigations following customer reports, at which time any significant defects will be addressed.

Meanwhile you can use a website called Fill That Hole to report information about a pothole to the authorities. To go to the website click here.

Southdown PACT

The next Southdown PACT meeting will be held in Southdown Junior School on Wednesday 15th July at 6.30pm. At this meeting residents can raise issues of concern or propose community initiatives with representatives from Police, the Council and other partner agencies.

Info from newsletter, 13/06/09

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