An unlucky 2-1 defeat to Forest Green Rovers knocked Bath City out of the cup over the weekend. Watched at Twerton Park by a crowd of more than 3,000 fans, City were easily a match for their opponents who play in the Blue Square Premier League - a league above us.

In the first half, Forest Green scored when an ambitious long range shot at goal bounced off City player Chris Holland and into the net. But nearing the half time whistle, Lewis Hogg levelled the score by powerfully heading in a well struck cross by Sekani Simpson. This was a superb goal.

Early in the second half, City were caught off guard when Preece was given opportunity to head home Platt's corner. The City players created openings to score again with attacking play, but somehow struggled to make the most of their chances. This was a shame as the game had been enjoyable to watch throughout.

I made a video clip of Lewis Hogg's goal which you can see here.

Joe, 29/11/09

A new community shop will be opening on 7th December at 98 Mount Road. The shop will be selling donated second hand goods and will be staffed by volunteers. All profits will be donated to local community groups and schools etc. There will be a suggestion box in store where customers can suggest local good causes that would benefit from a donation.

The venture is called Community at Heart and is a joint effort between Julia Ascott and Jackie Hewlett, who are looking for donations of goods and volunteers to work in the shop.

So please clear out your cupboards for the new community shop. They need your unwanted clothes, bric-a-brac, toys etc and you need the space before Christmas! Drop off items to the shop or arrange a collection by phoning Julia on 01225 340627. If you know of a local group that could use a cash donation pop into the shop and use the suggestion box.

Joe, 27/11/09

Local people have established a Facebook group to vent their feelings about the number 5 bus service for Twerton and Whiteway. If you have a Facebook account you can join the group here. Below are some of the comments that people have posted:

"Every day it's between 30 and 45 minutes wait for the bus. I work at the end of the London Road... I have to leave an hour and a half before work because of the 5!"

"I got told to 'get stuffed' by a driver today when all I said was, 'What's the excuse this time?' after waiting over half an hour and missing my dentist appointment!"

"If you need to be anywhere at a certain time you can't rely on them. May as well get a taxi - it will only cost on average a quid or so more than a return anyway!"

"One driver was trying to make me and my kids throw our drinks on the pavement, cos there was no bin and we weren't allowed them on the bus."

"I have waited up till an hour for a number 5 before... also I have seen 3 buses at once go up to Mount Road way... It's not fair to keep us waiting especially now the colder weather is coming, and what about the people that need to get to work or get their kids to and from school?"

Earlier this year Councillor Tim Ball emailed his concerns over the number 5 service to First Bus and got a reply. However, the situation doesn't seem to have improved at all. This month Tim wrote on his blog: "Come on First Bus, get your house in order. People are fed up with you not running a service that we need here in Twerton."

Joe, 26/11/09

The Council is required by the Government to build thousands of extra houses as part of the Regional Spatial Strategy - a plan for South West England. About 2,000 houses are to be built at Bath, and the main proposed spots for the build are land west of Twerton and at Odd Down.

The Council is recommending that most of the 2,000 houses be built to the west of Twerton (with Odd Down as a second option). The picture below shows the land near Twerton where the new homes would be built. Obviously this development could have an impact on Twerton, Whiteway and Southdown, so now is the time to give your views.

Telephone 01225 477548 or email planning_policy@bathnes.gov.uk to have your say. You can also attend the presentation to the Better Bath Forum at St Michael's Church in Broad Street on Thursday 3rd December from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

In one document the Council discusses problems that building near Twerton would pose to the Newton St Loe community and its conservation area, and to Bath's status as a World Heritage Site. But it doesn't mention problems that the development could pose to Twerton (BANES Core Strategy Spatial Options Consultation 2009, p. 110).

Such problems may include increased traffic along Newton Road (where there is a school and two pre-school facilities) and through Twerton High Street. Also, increased traffic on the Whiteway Road which is regularly identified as a dangerous road in the Southdown PACT meetings. If new infrastructure (e.g. schools, a GP surgery) isn't quickly built to accompany the housing development, local services could come under strain.

Joe, 24/11/09

Twerton Chippy

The festive season is definitely upon us. I took this photo of Twerton Chippy as I walked past last night. I think we've probably got the best decorated chippy in Bath. Did you know that the Twerton Chippy has a scheme where some customers donate second hand books and other customers buy them by putting money in a collection tin for Childline?

Winter Fete

A Winter Fete will be held at Rose Cottage, Twerton High Street, on Thursday 10th December from 2.30pm to 5pm. There will be soup, rolls and homemade cakes. You can meet the art student who will be running an art project for the Bath Foyer health programme. You can also find out about the life coaching programme to be held at the Foyer. Manicures and hand massage will available.

Carols and Beer

St Michael's Church will be enjoying an evening of beer and carols at The White Horse Pub, Shophouse Road, on Tuesday 22nd December from 7pm onwards. The pub will be laying on some mince pies and mulled wine, and people of all ages are welcome to join in (including children).

Free insulation

Keep your house warm and save money on your electric bill by receiving free loft and cavity wall insulation. The trial cavity and loft insulation scheme is open to all residents of Bath and North East Somerset on a first come first served basis. It is open to home owners and tenants.

Where cavity wall and loft insulation is not an option, a different type of insulation is available to households who spend 10 percent or more of their income to keep warm at home. To find out more about both schemes, telephone 0800 512012 or email warmstreets@cse.org.uk

Joe, 23/11/09

Mr John Rawlings of Whiteway has sent in some long distance photographs of parts of Twerton, Whiteway and Southdown. They can be found in a new slideshow called Views of South West Bath on the Photos page. To see the slideshow click here.

John also took a fine photo of the new sculpture at Parade Gardens in the city centre, which you can see here.

Joe, 21/11/09

Christmas Bazaar

A Christmas Bazaar will be held at Southdown Methodist Centre, The Hollow, on Saturday 28th November and opening at 2.30pm. There will be lots of stalls with christmas paper and cards, gifts, toiletries, books, toys and groceries etc. There will also be a tombola and a kid's corner. Even Father Christmas will be dropping in.

Christmas Celebration

Also at Southdown Methodist Centre, come and watch a nativity play and sing your favourite carols on Sunday 6th December at 3.30pm. The play will include Brownies, the Thursday Lunch people, Southdown Infant School, Southdown Community Choir and other people in the community. Seasonal refreshments will follow.

Carols at Roundhill

Fancy doing some carol singing on Roundhill? Meet at Roundhill on 12th December at 3pm. The Friends of Roundhill group are in the process of getting together some musicians and are also trying to arrange some refreshments. Other events soon to take place on Roundill are listed here.

Christmas computer skills

Some festive computer skills taster sessions will be taking place at FOTEC Learning Centre, 80 Twerton High Street. The sessions are designed to introduce people to surfing the internet, emailing and making Christmas cards with Microsoft Publisher. Do you know of someone who might like to attend one of these?

For information on the surfing the internet taster session, click here. For info on the emailing taster session, click here. And for info on the Microsoft Publisher session click here.

Joe, 19/11/09

Twerton's latest PACT meeting was held at St Michael's Junior School last week. Detailed minutes of the meeting can be read here.

On the issue of mini motorbikes being driven around Redland Park, PC Adrian Secker said that he had spoken to a couple of individuals and their bikes were no longer on the road. The problem appears to have died down.

Somer Housing hopes to get a planning application approved to demolish Pennyquick View and build new homes soon. Hopefully the demolition will begin 6 weeks from the end of November. A local person criticised the long time interval between the relocation of residents of Pennyquick View and the demolition. There had been problems with vandalism, rats, and the raiding of building materials from the empty houses, which had "brought everyone's head down".

The Urban Extension will result in thousands homes being built to the south of Bath. Two likely spots for the build are Odd Down and land by The Globe Inn at Newton St Loe. If you do not want housing developments in these places, telephone 01225 477548 or email planning_policy@bathnes.gov.uk to have your say. There will be a meeting at St Michael's Junior School, Newton Road, on 24th November between 4pm and 7pm on this subject.

New priorities that were raised and voted for were: 1) Antisocial behaviour at the Pennyquick Park play area; 2) Leaf clearing; 3) Revamp of the Redland Park play area.

Joe, 16/11/09