The giant wooden spider is now complete at Woodhouse Park, Twerton. It is made of chestnut wood and you can see how it was put together by watching the video clip here. The carpenters are from Touchwood Enterprises which typically works with schools and youth groups on projects to construct things like play equipment or seating.

Local musicians held a sponsored jamming session at St Michael's Church in Twerton this week, to raise money for the new Rec House music studio that will be coming to the area if sufficient funding is secured. Kevin Rowe and Jon Birch gave a taster of the kind of creative work that can be done with local youth. See a video clip of the jamming here.

Night photos can be really effective. The photo of Oldfield Park Station below was sent in by Mr John Rawlings who is a skilled photographer. You can see another of John's night photos here.

Joe, 13/12/08

From Tuesday 9th December to Friday 12th December, from 9.30am to 3pm, a company called Touchwood Enterprises is supporting local children and residents to get involved in working with wood. The activities are taking place in Woodhouse Park which is behind St Michael's Junior School and next to Redland Park.

You can come and do some bark peeling, wood carving and help construct a giant spider! Every day groups of children from local schools are taking part. The picture below is of Class 7 from St Michael's Junior School helping out and one of the spider's legs being fixed to it's body.

The children from Class 7 said that it was hard to use the tools, but that it would be good to see the spider when they go past and know that they helped make it. On Sunday 14th December from 11am to 3pm, there will be a community open session with the final push to complete the spider.

Bath Area Play Project have two playworkers on site to give information about the new park designs and support local people to get involved in developing the park. The new features will include a slide built into the big earth mound, a scramble net and a metal dog exclusion fence. For more information telephone Bath Area Play Project on 01225 832479.

Joe, 10/12/08

An exciting project is underway to provide communities in South West Bath with a professional music, media and dance studio. Called the Rec House, the studio will offer change, skills, employment, meaning and purpose to young people aged roughly 15 to 25.

The new facility will give young people opportunities to express themselves through the arts, creating projects over which they can achieve a sense of pride and ownership. It will also be used to link participants in with other local services such as sports teams and community centres.

The Rec House has grown out of the relationship between St Michael's Church in Twerton and a group of local professionals in the arts and music industries. The venue for the studio will be the Church Rooms at the top of Twerton High Street.

The loft of the Church Rooms (pictured left) will be converted into a music and animation workshop (pictured right). Downstairs will be a room large enough for band rehearsals and dance workshops etc. Information and news about the project will be appearing here.

From document, 10/12/08

The Jubilee Inn at Whiteway Road has been closed for many weeks. Pub brewer and retailer Greene King has a caretaker on site for security and is looking for a landlord to run the pub. Regional Manager Andy Price said, "It's in our interests to open the pub as soon as we can."

On Tuesday the RNID Poolemead Centre at Watery Lane, Twerton, held its Christmas Sale of handmade gifts. The items were made by deaf adults working in the RNID (Royal National Institute for the Deaf) workshop at Wells Road.

The sale was held to raise funds for the workshop. The above photo is of Zara (left) and Tony (right) who use the Poolemead Centre, running a stall.

The ABC Toddler Group that meets at the Church Rooms is moving to Rose Cottage in Twerton High Street. It will be held at the same time of Monday 10am to 11am. Rose Cottage will also be opening over a Monday lunchtime from January. The toddler group's Christmas Party is on Monday 15th December and the group starts again on Monday 12th January.

Joe, 04/12/08

Several local organisations have had the same idea to organise a bazaar, fayre or sale this Christmas. On Saturday it was the turn of the Carrswood Day Service in Twerton and the Methodist Centre at Southdown to hold theirs. The Twerton event was called a Fayre and there was a lot going on besides the stalls.

You could meet Santa in his Grotto, have a Christmas card with your photo in it made on the spot, or try your hand at indoor kurling. And there were cake competitions where you had to guess the weight of one cake and how many sweets were on another.

The left-hand photo is of Kyle and Courtney having a go at indoor kurling. The right-hand photo is of Tina and her children Madison and Jay, running a toy and jewellery stall.

Later that day, Southdown Methodist Centre opened its bazaar. You could meet Santa there too, but there must be more than one of 'em because the Southdown Santa seemed about 15 years older than the Twerton one. There was a raffle, children's crafts and tea and cakes.

The left-hand photo is of Stuart and Hilary with their toy stall at the Methodist Centre. The right-hand photo is of folk checking out the raffle prizes.

It was good to see so many people turn up to support these events. Most people were local but some were from further afield, which shows we have things to offer people outside our area.

Joe, 01/12/08