Fun Day

A Fun Day will be held at Bath City Farm on Friday 5th August from 11am to 2pm. There will a barbecue, live music, face painting, a bouncy castle and more.

Youth activities

Here is the programme of summer activities for young people aged 11 to 19, at the Southside Centre, Kelston View / Poolemead Road:

Dance: Mondays 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd August from 7.30pm to 8.30pm

Basketball: Wednesdays 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th August from 4.30pm to 5.30pm

Netball: Wednesdays 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th August from 5.30pm to 6.30pm

Trampoline: Wednesdays 3rd and 17th August from 7.30pm to 8.30pm

Circus Skills: Saturdays 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th August from 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Rosewarn Sports Day

A Community Sports Fun Day will be held at Rosewarn Field, Whiteway, on Wednesday 10th August from 2pm to 4pm. There will be cricket and rounders, a bouncy castle, face painting, play & games, and much more.

Joe, 28/07/11

Bath City Farm has developed some of its land into garden plots to be hired by groups or individuals. Plots have already been taken up by Age Concern, the Community Learning Service and the Time Bank, as the gardening provides an activity for their service users and volunteers.

The new garden plots with Innox Road in the background

A list of prices for renting 7x7 metre and 7x15 metre garden plots can be found on the Bath City Farm website here. I would like to see something interesting growing there, like big a patch of colourful pumpkins or tall sunflowers swaying in the breeze.

The Time Bank is looking for people who would like to help grow salad vegetables, garlic, herbs and perhaps other produce on its garden plot at Bath City Farm. Also needed is someone who would be willing to co-ordinate this project.

Joe, 28/07/11

Here are details of summer play arranged for Twerton, Whiteway and Southdown this year.

Open access play scheme

Bath Area Play Project will be running a free play scheme at the Southside Centre, Kelston View / Poolemead Road, from Monday 8th August to Friday 19th August and from 11am to 2pm. It is for children aged 5-12 years and is "open access" meaning that you don't need to book.

On each day there will also be a drop-in family play session from 10am to 11am. Children should be accompanied by a parent or carer for this session which will involve people in the community helping to design the future of children's play.

Mini play days

The Community Play Rangers will be organising free fun and games at Hillcrest Field, Southdown, on Monday 8th August and at Bath City Farm on Wednesday 24th August, from 11am to 2pm.

Closed access play scheme

There will be a play scheme At The Hut, next to Costcutters in Newton Road, from Monday 8th August to Wednesday 18th August and from 10am to 3pm. It is "closed access" meaning that you have to book in advance. A registration form and a booking form can be downloaded from the Bath Area Play Project website.

First Steps holiday play

First Steps Nursery will be offering preschool holiday play at First Steps Annexe, Dominion Road, on Tuesdays 2nd, 9th, 23rd and 30th of August, from 10am to 12 noon. On 16th August there will be a trip to Bristol Zoo for service users who have booked in advance (phone 01225 314111).

First Steps regular groups

Through the summer holiday, Bumps and Babies will be running at First Steps Annexe, Dominion Road, on Mondays 1st, 8th and 22nd August from 10am to 11.30am. The Young Parents Group will run at the same venue on Wednesdays from 1pm to 3pm - except for Wednesday 3rd August.

Joe, 19/07/11

A PACT meeting was held on 15th June in Southdown Methodist Centre. To get a detailed summary of the meeting click here. PACT meetings give residents the chance to come and discuss local community issues.

Dog Warden Jo Brain announced a series of dog fouling awareness days to be held in Whiteway and Southdown. These will be supported by the Changes group which is a Whiteway resident-led organisation. Anyone who wants to participate can attend.

The places and dates for these days are: Roundhill - 3rd August from 2pm to 4pm; Rosewarn Field - 10th August from 10am to 12 noon; Hillcrest Field - September, exact time to be arranged.

Part of Rosewarn Field, Whiteway

We were told that street cleansing schemes have been rescheduled to the day after recycling collections, so that any litter left by the cycling collectors can be cleared up. In addition, the collectors have been instructed to clean up whatever mess they create.

New issues raised at this meeting included the question of why the boxing club at the Southside Centre has not been reinstated, hedges growing over pavements and the poor state of the play area in Parry Close.

The next PACT meeting for Southdown and Whiteway will be held in Southdown Methodist Centre, The Hollow, on 9th November at 7pm.

Joe, 19/07/11

A couple of days of hard work have helped to improve the environment around Pennyquick Park and Redland Park. On Friday the Community Projects Manager Stacy Pritchard and the Council's IT team kindly came and painted the play equipment in Pennyquick Park. A lady from Redland came along and helped out with the painting as well.

Then on Saturday, a team of us did a litter pick around Redland Park for a couple of hours. There were several residents from the estate alongside myself and the Twerton Councillors Tim and Gerry - which wasn't a bad turnout considering that it was raining most of the time. Now we just need more people to get involved and we've got an action team in the making!

Joe, 17/07/11

Thanks to Mr John Rawlings for sending in this old photo of Twerton Station. The image has been captured from the track itself and faces toward Bath. The bridges in the distance are those that span the railway line at Bellotts Road, near the Bellotts Road Cemetery.

Twerton Station opened when the railway was built in the 1840s but closed in 1917. The fence is shown bearing some enamelled advertising signs that were typical of that era. The long gone iron footbridge used to be very visible from the High Street in Twerton.

Photo by John Rawlings, 09/07/11

Culverhay

On 13th July, pupils and staff at Culverhay School will be presenting "A Year in the Life" - which is this years' school production. This event is a result of the drama sessions that pupils attend as part of the enrichment programme at Culverhay. All are welcome; bring family and friends along. Tickets on the door will cost £3 for adults and £1.50 for children.

On 14th July, there will a meeting at the Guildhall to debate the call-in which was put in place to challenge the decision to close Culverhay before the local elections. You can attend the meeting to show your support for Culverhay and plans to make it co-education. You can register to speak at the meeting by calling 01225 447700 and asking for Jo Morrison in Democratic Services before 11th July. The meeting is due to start at 6.30pm or 7pm.

Community action

See below for two ways to help improve the local area.

Time Bank

The Time Bank in Twerton is taking on an allotment at Bath City Farm. If you are interested in getting involved with a food growing project, please get in touch.

The next Time Bank cookery class is planned for 19th July at 11.30am. Please call if you wish to attend.

The Time Bank is short of volunteers for its DIY and Decorating Team. If you have skills in this area or would like to gain some experience please let the staff know.

From Time Bank news, 07/07/11

The Southside Youth and Community Centre held an open day on Friday, to invite organisations to come and think about how they could use this newly revamped facility to benefit the community. This was also a chance to capture some footage showing residents what the centre has to offer.

At the moment most of the activities are for young people aged 13 to 19, with the exception of a Young Parents Drop-In on Tuesdays from 1pm to 3pm. A community cafe will be up and going soon. Paid workers and volunteers are needed to help run the cafe - phone 0117 9082266.

On Saturday 17th September there will be a Grand Opening of the Southside Centre, when all the work will have been completed. For more information about the centre, email Jenny at: jenny_williams@bathnes.gov.uk or phone 01225 423218.

Joe, 02/07/11