The White Horse Pub at Shophouse Road has been celebrating two years of new management with a beer festival. Called the Cheesestock Festival after the cheesy tunes that get played during the pub's Saturday night discos, the beer festival has attracted a mix of local and non-local customers to sample the variety of beers specially brought in.

On Saturday there was a barbecue at the pub with pork kebabs, beef and steak burgers, and sausages. There was a great chilled out atmosphere and lots of people talked with folk they had never met before. The photo is of Chloe managing the barbecue.

Joe, 13/07/08

The Jubilee Inn on the Whiteway Road is working towards doing more to support its local community. Head Barman Lee is thinking of chanelling the young people who play pool at the pub into the Bath Pool League for 12 to 16 year-olds. He also plans to install some play equipment in the garden for the children. Regular events at the pub include a disco and karaoke. The photo opposite is of Jason giving a rendition on Karaoke Night.

In August, The Jubilee will be hosting an inter-pub challenge in aid of the charity Action Duchenne which aims to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Pub teams will be competing in various tournaments on different days of the month, for trophies and a free band to play in their pub for one night.

Joe, 13/07/08

People of St Barnabas Church at Southdown have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of their church building. On Saturday 14th June a fete was held in the church grounds with a barbecue organised by the Scouts, a bouncy castle and a Tae Kwon Do display from a group that meets at Culverhay School.

A display of photographs and memorabilia tracing the history of the church has been open to the public at weekends between 2pm and 4pm. The present St Barnabas Church was built in 1958, replacing an ealier church that once stood at the bottom of Rush Hill.

The above photo is of a St Barnabas football team in 1920. You can read an article on the history of St Barnabas Church here.

Joe, 07/07/08

A local produce market is to be held every Wednesday at the Time Bank, 86 High Street, Twerton. People living in or around Twerton will be able to swap or buy produce from local gardens or allotments. If you are a gardener and have surplus vegetables, fruit or flowers, you can bring them to the market and exchange them for other produce.

Produce can also be exchanged for time credits. To understand what this means, you need to know what the Time Bank is. The Time Bank enables people to share time and skills helping one another. When you put in an hour helping someone you get given a time credit. Time credits can be used to 'buy' help that you need yourself from another member, or exchanged for freebies from businesses such as cinema tickets or training opportunities.

The first market will be held on Wednesday 30th July from 11.30am to 3.30pm. For further information telephone the Time Bank on 01225 442813.

Joe, 04/07/08

A Community Celebration at Southdown Methodist Centre last weekend was filled with things to do for young and old. On the Saturday the children enjoyed an inflatable bouncy castle and activities such as throwing sponges into a bucket and memory games. There were refreshments and stalls selling toys, cakes, plants, books, gifts and cards, as well as a tombola and a raffle.

The Sunday celebration began with craft activities for all ages. Then there was a short service in which children from Southdown Junior School piled into a model of Noah's Ark wearing animal masks they had made. The children also displayed some country dances that they practice at school, and a music group from Oldfield Park sang the story of Noah and the flood. Colourful banners representing different local community groups were positioned to make a display.

The Southdown Methodist Centre is effective at bringing together people of all age ranges. This is important as the elderly are often missing from other community events.

Joe, 01/07/08

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

PACT meeting

More than 45 residents turned up to the Southdown PACT meeting on 4th June. Reports were given on the development of the Southdown Traders Association and the Whiteway Community Respect Project.

The main priorities raised were: 1) Speeding vehicles at Mount Road, Sladebrook and generally throughout Southdown and Whiteway; 2) Parking on the pavement at Englishcombe Lane and outside Southdown Schools; 3) The need to move a bus stop in Hillcrest Drive to a better site; 4) A need for one way areas in Mount View, Roundhill Grove and Haycombe Drive.

Clean-up schemes

A week of efforts to improve the local environment commenced at the beginning of June. The work included the identification of untaxed and speeding vehicles, the removal of graffiti, dealing with tenancy issues, home fire saftey checks and crime prevention advice.

Staff tackled street scene issues in several streets, which was greatly appreciated by many residents. On Saturday street collection points were established to help households get rid of any rubbish. In two of the three streets more rubbish was put out than could be managed, and this had to be cleared up on Monday morning.

Information from newsletter, 01/07/08