Super successful Village Fete

A big thank you to everyone for coming along and for those who helped make the day such a success. The weather was kind and everyone had a superb time and we raised lots of dosh for the village. Well done.

View from St Marys Tower

View from St Marys Tower

Fete Day

Fete Day

Two Munchkins on the tower

Two Munchkins on the tower

A new band?

A new band?

Village Picnic

Thanks also to everyone who worked so hard on putting up marquees and bunting for our village picnic; to the supplier of the cake (Hannah, please thank your wonderful lady who made the cake) and to all those who turned up and shared their lovely food.

A really good opportunity for residents of  Compton and our local villages to hang out in perfect surroundings.  I bet the little ones slept well!

String Orienteering

5 Villages Youth Group – String Orienteering in May

A band of village children had a great time following a string course through fields and woodland to test their mapping skills at the May, 5 Villages Youth Group. They were given a coloured map of the course, with the topographical features marked, and a key to the icons. The kids had to orientate themselves on the ground to the printed map, and then set off on the string course.

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Beacon for the Queen

The Beacon to celebrate the Queen’s birthday was a roaring success. A clear, if a bit chilly, evening was perfect for the bonfire on Telegraph Hill, or Salmon’s Sideland, which is its old name. A small group of villagers congregated around the fire and enjoyed the views across the valley. Sadly we could not see another beacon from our viewpoint.

Youth Group April Activity

The 5 Villages Youth Group had a fantastic time at their April meeting, when the kids produced home-made bird feeders. They threaded circular shaped breakfast cereal onto pre-shaped garden wire and also included some blueberries amongst the cereal, to produce some lovely shapes: hearts, spirals, twists, apples, triangles; completely filled with food for the wild birds.

All the kids were eager to put them out for the birds and will keep an eye out to see what sort of birds come to their garden. Alison ter Haar, one of the organisers, said “it was one of the most successful events we have run recently, and was thought up by Mabel and Alice Prescott, who regularly help with the group.”

Flowers in decorated mugs

The children who came to the March Youth Group session made a decorated mug filled with paper flowers to give to their mothers on Mothering Sunday.

The mugs made a lovely display.

 

Report from February Craft Day

A cold bright day was made only better by being at the Compton Dando Craft Day in the warm, bright hall with both old and new faces and a few young people (22 in all) as this date coincided with half term.  Molly enjoyed learning to spin the fleece from their family alpacas; Gilly took to felting like a duck to water and made a stunning flower; a couple of people brought their spinning wheels for an overhaul and a professional diagnosis from Jenny Smart.  Homemade bread, soup (Carrot and Leek and Potato equally popular today) and cake made by Harriette Dottridge, the organiser, were enjoyed by all.  Harriette reports that a profit of £20 was made for the Compton Dando Community Association and most importantly everyone really enjoyed the day.

Report from January Craft Day

We had a lovely day with about 20 visitors for lunch.  Eillen from Chelwood brought her beautiful needle felted owl, foxes and other animals and several people enjoyed learning how to do them: for the book follow this link (http://www.coriandr.com/item/15758/needle-felting-book.  Jenny Smart showed us how to make braided bracelets, Steve Rendell brought his stained glass windows to putty up and Harriette and Kay (from Wedmore) did some spinning on their wheels, Marge brought her cards and there were also people knitting, crocheting, and quilting.  Rosemary Graham came back to the village with her book group for lunch and all seven of them enjoyed seeing all the variety of crafts and having a go at some of them.  Soups were carrot and leek and potato, breads were wholemeal and half white/half wholemeal with sunflower seeds (all homemade by Harriette) A small profit of £15 was raised for the CDCA.

The next day is 15th February – please let Harriette know if you want to come along so that she can cater for you.

Harriette Dottridge

01761 490445

We met an amateur mycologist

Whilst walking our dog today we met an amateur mycologist in one of the village fields who told us that he had found 43 different varieties of fungi during a couple of hours walking in the valley. It is amazing to learn things like this. I know that I occasionally see fungi on my walks, but was fascinated to discover that there were so many more. We just have to look a bit harder. Barend and Alisonthumbcrop (1)