Unfortunalty due to ill health by some members of the team the publishing of this issue on the intenet has been a little delayed.
For those of you who are interested we now bring you the parish council minutes. These are presented in Microsoft Word format, and you will have to download the complete file and then view it using "Word". There is also a link allowing download of the free word viewer programme.
Following from Sonia's retirement the vouluntary post of Editor for the paper version of "Elstead Village News" is vacent. If you have computer skills and would like this job please contact William Lang on 01252 703 251
Christian Aid Week begins on 9th May, and the money raised this year will be used to improve people’s lives in more than 50 countries worldwide. One of the places that Christian Aid has recently begun working is the former Soviet republic of Tajakistan. Here, as in many other poor countries, money raised in Christian Aid Week is being used to help people live life to the full.
Khurshed Khuinov is 17 and lives in Tajikistan’s captial, Duschanbe. He shares one room in a city hostel with his mother and five brothers and sisters. Life in the hostels is bleak and dangerous, so the organisation Zumrad, which is supported by Christian Aid, runs youth clubs to improve the lives of vulnerable children and give them emotional support. They enjoy climbing and camping expeditions, as well as workshops in which they make their own rucksacks and tents.
Zumrad is one of ten partner organisations in Tajikistan supported by Christian Aid. Tajikistan is one of the poorest countries in the world outside Africa, and Christian Aid began to work there quite recently. Situated in central Asia, north of Afghanistan, it was part of the Soviet Union until independence in 1991.
Subsequently the economy has collapsed, and there has been a bitter civil war. One in three workers is jobless, and vulnerable people such as children and the elderly have little or no support. Children are particularly at risk if they are orphaned. Fifty thousand were orphaned during the war, and many more have parents who have been forced to leave home and seek work in Russia. Huge state orphanages provide schooling and shelter, but they are overcrowded and poorly resourced. Children living in these conditions are stigmatised, often do not have enough to eat, and are starved of affection.
In Khurshed’s case, his family’s situation was made harder because of his poor health. Until he was 12, he had to walk on crutches. ‘After two operations the doctor succeeded in fixing my bones,’ he explains. ‘My family wanted to buy a house, but they used the money for the operations. Life became very difficult for us. So now we live on a hostel.’
For ten years, Zumrad has given children such as these a richer education and deeper relationships than are possible in an orphanage or hostel. They offer camping expeditions in the mountains, with teenage children learning a range of climbing and environmental skills.
‘I thought I would never be able to walk as normal, but I have been hiking with Zumrad for four years,’ says Khurshed. ‘At first it was really hard. But it is so important for me. When I come on hiking trips. I feel at home. I’m not afraid of the difficulties now. I’m going to be an artist. So I am not just looking around; I am studying the countryside and keeping it in my head.
By attending local clubs several times a week, the young people also learn the sewing skills they need to make their own rucksacks, tents and clothing. Courses in computing and English mean that they can improve their potential. But perhaps most important of all is that Zumrad provides a safe place where children find genuine care and can develop higher hopes for the future.
A £25 gift to Christian Aid buys the materials for ten young people to make their own rucksacks for a camping expedition.
By supporting Christian Aid Week, you are among millions of people who think poverty is a scandal we do not have to accept. Your actions, commitment and contributions will bring about a better life for people in poor communities all over the world.
The minutes of main Parish Council meetings are now shown on the internet at www.elstead.org.uk/news. Paper copies are still shown at the SPAR and the Post Office.
Planning the layout for the new children's play equipment for Thursley Road Recreation Ground is going ahead. We have to take account of the plans for building of the new pavilion and the need to put in a new drainage ditch to deal with the excess water which is always a problem here. Technical advice from the manufacturers is also important but when we have arrived at a workable draft plan we will be checking with St James School and the Playgroups to make sure that we have got it right from a user point of view. This is a slow process but we need to be certain about the site as it is an expensive operation.
From time to time Councillors attend outside meetings and conferences such as the Joint Local Parishes Meetings, Waverley Town/Parishes Meetings, Surrey County Council Countryside Conferences, CAB meetings, Surrey Hills AONB conferences, Surrey Voluntary Services Meetings and Ministry of Defence Conservation Meetings (Hankley). It is important to go to these meetings to learn what is happening around us and to inform our decisions which effect the village of Elstead. We can also influence policy development which may well have a long term impact on our day to day lives. It is only too easy to press ahead without consulting or checking to see if there is local experience or knowledge of a particular problem and then realise we could have arrived at a better solution. At the present time we are looking at the way our neighbouring Parishes are approaching government proposals for Parish Plans. These deal with a whole range of strategies for the future of rural villages and the Parish Council has to decide whether or not to launch our own Parish Plan. If anyone has a view on this please let me know. Denis Holmes Chairman
There was such a buzz of excitement in the school on Wednesday 11th February when British astronaut, Piers Sellers visited St James School to talk about his last space mission.
An astronaut called Piers Sellers came to visit. First he showed us a video of his trip into space. The reason he and his friends went into space was because they were fitting a piece (the size of a bus) to the International Space Station. They stayed at the space station for 11 days. Piers went space walking about 3 times. After the video he answered questions. My question was, “Can you see the Great Wall of China” from space. The answer was no but they thought they saw a railway line. In space, to sleep they had to strap themselves to the wall to stop them floating away; to drink, you can have a bubble of water floating in the air and then drink it. As they were landing the sky around them went red because they were going very fast. I really enjoyed it a lot.
By Rachel in Puffins Class.
Piers Sellers told us what happened and what he did in space. He said that
the G force was so hard on lift off that it’s hard to breathe. When he
looked down at the Earth he could see lightning flashing in the clouds. He said
that after the space walk, getting the suit off was a real hassle.
By Oli in Woodpeckers.
The toilets have a special fan to blow to make sure it doesn’t float around. At the end when the shuttle landed, the shuttle wheels come out and a parachute comes out to slow them down. I really liked it.
By Oliver in Puffins.
In the space craft, everything floats all around and it looked fun! When they
got to the space station they met some Russians who had lived up there for a
few months and they had run out of coffee a month before. Poor people! Piers
and his friend David went on a space walk to put a bit on the space station.
The girls were controlling the crane from inside the station.
By Lidia in Puffins.
He told us that, while he was in space, it was very hard to do things because there was no gravity. They travelled 250 miles up from the Earth and at 5 miles a second. They wore orange suits in space.
By Leila in Puffins.
I loved it that they could do acrobatics in space. It only took eight and a
half minutes to get to space and it’s 50 miles up. They were going at 5
miles a second so it would take them a second to get to Guildford which is fast.
By George Norcliffe in Woodpeckers.
Everyone enjoyed his visit and felt very honoured that one of only three British astronauts, that have been into space, came to see us.
By Stephen in Eagles.
We are very proud that the last Leagues Tables showed that St James School
is in the top 25% of schools in the country for the value we add to children’s
education. This score is considered by many to be a far better judgement on
the effectiveness of a school than pure SATs results. St James had the highest
value added score in the local area and the tenth highest score in all Surrey
schools.
Our meeting at the end of January, saw us conducting our late A.G.M. but this was soon underway after welcome to everyone at the beginning of 2004, and various items of news. Sylvia gave us the financial report, which showed we were keeping our heads’ above water, being able to cover our outgoings, and as there were no questions, the statement was accepted. Chair then gave a report on the year’s happenings and events, covering our meetings with the speakers and their various subjects, from whom we all increased our knowledge, and then there were the musical entertainments, bring and buy and quizzes, outings etc. She thanked her committee who were very loyal and supportive, and the help which was given by Paul, Len and Ben, each month. The Committee were all willing to stand again, and as there were no ‘takers’ for the position of Chair, they were doomed with ‘yours truly’ again.
Peter then took over, with his talk and slides of The Grand Canyon and surrounds, and how uplifting it was, from the gloom outside. We were able to see the houses almost built on top of each other which had been inhabited by the Nevajo and Hopi Tribes, and outside the very large baking ovens. The height, depth and width of the Canyon was hard to take in, with the river a mere ‘stream’ below looking down. The colouring with the sun shining on it brought out its colour. It was amazing to see how the elements had made their marks throughout time, eroding by wind and water, the many wonderful sculptures of the stone, seeing the largest archway in the world, pinnacles in every shape and size, some looking like the spires of Oriental temples, and another out on the top of the cliff face, what could be interpreted as Queen Victoria complete with bustle, and opposite another which looked like King Henry and some of his wives! We visited Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Monument Valley and to complete our Tour, Las Vagas. This was a complete contrast as you can imagine, with all its illuminations down town; to natures wonders.
After one or two questions, Peter was thanked, and joined us for tea showing one or two items of interest which he had brought back with him as momentos, A very inspiring and interesting time had been shared.
It was then time for the raffle and home.
March meeting. Bring and Buy.
Freda Sheppard.
Elstead Garden Club started the New Year in fine style, with a
very enjoyable social evening with a chance to catch up after the Christmas
and New Year festivities, to collect our new programmes and show schedules,
and to enjoy the pictures of garden and countryside visits our members had made
in previous years.
Richard and Caroline Poyntz Wright led off with pictures from five gardens in
Herefordshire and Shropshire, which they had visited as members of the Lakeland
Horticultural Society - they spend part of each year in Cumbria. Each garden
was very distinctive - whether it was in its planting or its owner! Abbey Dore
was owned by an 85 year old lady who looked after it all herself, and was described
as a demon lawn mower driver! Powys Castle, with its famous and impressive terraces
is rather more well known. Hampton Court - not the well known one, although
it did have a maze! was another garden visited, as was a beautiful garden on
the Shropshire border, laid out to complement one of the black and white timbered
houses for which that part of the world is famous.
Susan and Dennis Holmes visited Cornwall in June. This was a wonderful
time of year for wild flowers, and we marvelled particularly at the fantastic
displays of foxgloves, with so many different colours, as well as the more usual
plants of the sea coast. They visited some of the famous gardens of the area
- Trebah, with its beautiful valley running right down to the sea and the magnificent
trees all carefully planted to the exact instructions of the Victorian founder
of the garden, although he was planting for posterity rather than himself. The
biodomes of the Eden project are now an essential part of any horticultural
trip to Cornwall, and it was interesting to look inside the tropical and the
temperate domes, seeing in the latter how similar in many ways were the plants
of the American prairie and the South African veldt. Finally, no list of Cornish
gardens is complete without the lost gardens of Heligan. These were felt to
be very impressive, with lakes having been dug out by hand, because of the steel
terrain. Last, but by no means least, Brian Deaville, our chairman took us on
a UK tour of gardens, ranging from Scotland, to his own garden in Ham Lane,
in Elstead. Harlow Carr, in Yorkshire, showed us some beautiful heathers, Kendal
in Cumbria, had some fantastic floral displays in some of the surrounding villages,
and we were also treated to some gems from the gardens seen on previous club
visits, including Coates Manor and the Old Rectory, Burghfield.
A very enjoyable evening concluded with the results of the pre-Christmas quiz,
won quite convincingly by our secretary, Susan Holmes.
Our next meeting on February 9th, sees Mr G Yates on Hunting for Flowers in China, and on March 8th, we have Mr M Harwood on Narcissus. Do come and join us, its at 7.45 pm in the URC Hall and we are delighted to welcome new members
This term we welcome five new children who are settling in well, among them is Tino who has come all the way from Zimbabwe, We are looking forward to learning about his country and language as he learns about ours.
Our theme of winter and weather has given us scope to explore ice, rain, snow and winter walks. The hall is decorated with the children’s pictures of winter and snowmen, we even have a weather chart and rain gauge!
We also celebrated Chinese New Year with a Chinese friend Amy and her baby; our children tasted pancakes and ate rice with chopsticks.
A favourite story is “Sleeping Beauty” which the children enjoy acting out; have you seen the wonderful collage made by the children which adorns the back wall in the Village Hall?
A warm welcome was extended by president Venetia Pierce to three guests and
forty Institute. Brief reports were presented by the organisers of the activity
groups including Scrabble, Bowls, Art, Craft, Discussion and Walkers. By popular
vote, support for charities for this year will be shared between ‘Cherry
Trees’ and ‘St. James’s Church’.
An air of mystery followed the business of the day when the speaker, Diana Clift, gave a fascinating insight into the phenomenon of ‘Crop Circles’, illustrated with many slides showing intricate geometric patterns, and stories most strange! The earliest woodcut of 1678 depicts a crop circle with the devil as its central figure. Recorded sightings then ceased until the twentieth century, serious records being kept mainly after 1980. Many appear in the Wiltshire and Hampshire areas although some have been seen in other countries including Germany and South America, all accompanied by strange external happenings. A demonstration of locating energy lines using dowsing-rods produced positive but unexplained results. Mrs Jean Cherriman proposed a vote of thanks to Ms Clift.
A generous tea was provided and served by Jean Beaton, Shelia Clarke and Phyllis George, and the competition for a Corn Dolly was won by Renee Clark with her entry of a ‘Little Angel’.
Next meeting will be on Thursday 4th March when Mr D Ashbourne will speak on the ‘Historic Development of Hampton Court’.
Enquiries - contact Eve Hall on 01252 715285.
The President, May Deaville, started the February meeting by announcing that an idea had been placed in the Suggestion Box for a table of savouries to accompany the cakes in the Table-Top Sale to be held on 27 March in the Village Hall. This was accepted enthusiastically.
After news and discussion about recent events, including an invitation from Farncombe WI to their meeting in March, May introduced the speaker for the evening, Mr. Alan Bridgeman, a Detective Inspector in Surrey Constabulary, who related the story of 'The Looting of the Wanborough Hoard'. This was a large cache of treasure, consisting of Celtic and Roman coins that had been buried for 600 years. It was discovered by two lads with metal detectors in late 1984, in a field near Wanborough, only a few miles from Elstead. The coins were all of silver and gold, and immensely valuable. The news of the discovery travelled quickly, resulting in thieves soon descending on the field in groups of 20 or so to dig holes in the sticky clay, and it was not long before the treasure was dispersed all over Europe. A private detective engaged by Lord Taylor, who owned the field, alerted the police in the person of Mr. Bridgeman, and despite the fantastic story he was told of men digging holes in a field in the middle of the night, he sent his men out to apprehend them. They were digging in pitch darkness, in pouring rain and because they were unable to climb out of the deep trenches they had dug, several of the thieves were caught. Some of the explanations for their escapade were quite extraordinary, but Mr. Bridgeman was eventually able to unravel the trail of the stolen treasure and a relatively small number of the original 9,000 coins were recovered. These are now on dispay in the British Museum. Because of the ease with which buried treasure can be found by using metal detectors and the weakness of the law in controlling this activiy, such organised gangs find its illegal disposal a simple matter, and the country is gradually losing this part of its rightful heritage. Mr. Bridgeman told his story with relish and much humour, and was thanked by Susan Holmes for a most fascinating and entertaining evening.
The meeting closed with further notices of future events, including a visit to the Ben Travers Theatre in April to see a production of 'South Pacific', and the February walk, to be on Hankley Common followed by a soup lunch provided by Venetia Pierce, at £3 per head, in aid of local charities.
We were delighted to welcome some new faces, and some old faces returning, at our January meeting - the first in the afternoons.
It was a most enjoyable occasion largely because of our speaker Ron Smith, who paid us a welcome return visit to talk about the “Reluctant Gardener”. Ron’s talk was partly tongue in cheek, partly sound gardening advice, and gusts of laughter echoed around Guardian Court, as he described the garden he knew as a child, which was largely responsible for his involvement in gardening in later life. It had THE PATH - not wide enough for two people to walk abreast, but there solely for the washing line! The fence was regularly creosoted, and roses were “crucified” on which was euphemistically called a pergola! All of us knew gardens like this - some of us still have them! This was a talk for everyone who still calls pelargoniums - geraniums - diversions - memories of Friday night bath night, and the fearsome copper in the bath which squirted hot water straight at you! Never attend the AGM of your local gardening club/horticultural society we were told or you are liable to end up on the committee! This happened to Ron in later life, and was responsible for his finding out a lot more about gardening he said, but we had a sneaking feeling that he was already quite an expert! He gave us his ten rules of gardening - including cover up that fence-creosoted or not - it will make your garden look much bigger if people can’t see the boundaries. Also make sure the ground is well covered - bare soil obviously encourages weeds, and make sure your plants and trees still have their “skirts”. This is their own way of protecting their roots and if you clip them to make standards, you will then create bare soil around them, and the weed problem surfaces once again. So hardy plants only should be grown, we were told - you don’t want a lot of frantic activity lifting things in October! A little tongue in cheek here perhaps, but certainly the description of how his father and mother used to go mad transporting plants into the bathroom, which was the only light suitably humid room in the house, and how the geraniums (red ones - only posh people had pink!) used to festoon the bath until the following April, was very funny, and something which many of us remembered! People don’t own greenhouses we were told - greenhouses own them - so avoid them whenever possible! Finally the tenth rule of gardening according to Smith “No man should have a garden bigger than his wife can take care of!”
Our meeting on February 24th sees Elizabeth Parry, coming to talk about her recent trip to China - wonderful slides guaranteed, and on March 23rd Brian Wilkins will be coming to give us some tips on how to get started researching our family history. Its at 2.30 pm in the Common Room at Guardian Court, and we finish with a good cup of tea, and a chat, so do come and join us - now you don’t have to come out at night. We would love to see yet more new faces.
St James’ Ladies Fellowship Programme for 2004.
| March 23rd | “The Reluctant Gardener” Ron Smith gives us his own inimitable view of the pleasures, and pains, of gardening. |
| April 27th | Elizabeth Party, traveller extraordinary, talks about her latest expedition, to China. |
| May 25th | Pyramids, Palms and Pharaohs. Brienne Skues talking about her visit to the ancient kingdom of Egypt. |
| June 22nd | Bring a Recipe afternoon. Bring along one of your favourite recipes, and tell us why you like it. If you can bring the results of the recipe so that we can all have a taste, this adds to the enjoyment, but is not necessary! |
| July 31st | See Where Henry VIII Courted Anne Boleyn. Coach Outing to Hever Castle. Leave Elstead 11 am approx return 5.30 pm approx. |
| August 18th | Another of our popular skittles evenings at the Woodcock at Beacon Hill. It’s great fun, fast and furious, and includes a bar meal. |
| September 28th | John Janaway, former local history librarian of Surrey talks about an important, if somewhat down to earth subject, about which he has just written a book - “Surrey Privies”. |
| October 26th | Jill Fry conies to tell us about some of the fascinating, and even some unique wildlife that we can see right here in Elstead |
| November 23rd | Do you remember this? Pam Pearson with some of her interesting slides of the old shops of Guildford. |
| December 8th | Christmas Party. Guardian Court 7.30 pm |
We are writing to thank you so much for participating in last
years Shoebox Appeal.
It is certainly true to say that we couldn’t have done it without you!
It is such a joy to find people who are as kind as you are and we do so appreciate
all your efforts.
You will be happy to learn we sent out 7 Shoebox trucks in all, the last one leaving Worthing on 12th December. The total number of boxes was 31,160 and they went to Iasi, Moldova, Sighisoara, Brasov, Petrila and Oradea. A really great result. One of the aid workers said “I wish you could have seen the faces of the people as they received boxes, this year. You have done all the hard work, but we have had the reward of seeing their joy”!
Thank you again, for your help in putting a Smile on the faces
of those less
fortunate than us
When we first produced the Life of Christ we knew we were being audacious but it was only meant to be for two years and it seemed the best way of celebrating the Millenium. It has captured everyone’s hearts and satisfied such a need that public demand has encouraged us to produce it year after year since then. 2004 will be our sixth year and we humbly offer six performances in June 22nd-27th.
As the audience number increases every year we do advise you to book as early as you can as we limit capacity to 3,000 per day so that everyone can hear and see.
The play begins with the Nativity, and ends with the Ascension. All this with a cast of over two hundred in the beautiful grounds of Wintershall as the backdrop. The audience moves with the action and a superb professional PA system ensures a quality mix of spoken word and evocative music.
A Unique Religious Experience.
This production is designed for all ages and brings to life the remarkable events
surrounding the life of Christ. It is a multi-sensory experience which has something
to offer everyone irrespective of their own beliefs.
Practical Details
The play will be performed on Tuesday 22nd June to Sunday 27th June 2004 and
will start at approximately 10.15 am and finish about 4.30 each day. The coach
and car park are a 15 minute walk from Act 1. All coaches and cars should arrive
before 10 am. The play is in three Acts and there will be a brief lunchtime
interval. The cost is Adult £12.50 Children £6.50 (up to age 18).
The audience are requested not to leave during the performances. Adults accompanying
children are entitled to one free ticket for every ten children in their party.
Extra tickets for adults are £12.50.
Those attending will need to bring packed Lunches, although very limited light refreshments are available for purchase. The event is in the open air so all will need to be well prepared for rain or shine! If you would like attend The Life of Christ 2004 please apply for your tickets now by completing a booking form. Past experience shows that the play is heavily oversubscribed so please act swiftly. We are expecting 3,000 people each day so coaches need to be booked well in advance.
All coaches are to arrive before 10 am.
Wintershall Estate Office,
Wintershall,
Bramley,
Nr Guildford,
Surrey
GU5 0LR
Tel: 01483 892167. Fax: 01483 898709.
Email: boxoffice@hutleygroup.com
Web site: www.wintershall-estate.com