Bishop's Castle.

BALL FOR 60 YEARS OF NHS: Make a note in your diary for the Bishop's Castle Community Hospital ball on Friday, June 20. This gala occasion will be at Walcot Hall, Lydbury North, and celebrates 60 years of the National Health Service. Tickets cost £20 to include live music and a meal. Call 01588 638220.

PALESTINE VIGIL: The Bishop's Castle Palestine Link Group is planning a vigil in Bishop's Castle High Street on Saturday, April 26, from 10am to 11.30am. One of their members is John Cribb and he says: "The vigil is to remember the 60th anniversary of the loss of the Palestinians' homeland and nearly 40 years of occupation and oppression. We will have a banner and some placards with information." At a later date the group plans to mount a mock Israeli roadblock, to highlight the difficulties Palestinians encounter in their everyday lives.

DOMESDAY BOOK LECTURE ENDS SEASON OF TALKS: South West Shropshire Historical & Archaeological Society's season of talks ended with the eighth annual Ritherdon lecture given by Dr Philip Morgan, senior lecturer in medieval history at Keele University. He was introduced by the SWSHAS chairman Maurice Young, who reminded members of the visit to Wightwick Manor and the Cold War exhibition at Cosford Aerospace Museum on Saturday, June 14.

Dr Morgan gave a most lively account of the origins and importance of the Domesday Book.

He had been one of the team of translators who had produced the 1986 Phillimore edition, making the original source accessible 900 years after it had been commissioned by William the Conqueror in order to estimate the wealth and land of England. It was a survey of each estate where dues were collected, establishing the ownership and succession of land, the acreage, and the resources and potential of the holding - a record against which there could be no appeal. Originally a working document for the royal household, the manuscript was in two columns highlighted in red, kept on loose sheets of vellum for consultation by clerks, and not bound into one volume until a hundred years later.

Dr Morgan used an excellent Powerpoint projection to illustrate his lecture, with analysis of the entries for Lydham and Lydbury North (including some discussion of Eadric Sylvaticus - Wild Edric). Bishop's Castle does not appear in the Domesday Book, though the entry for Lideberie' shows the large holding of land which later enabled the Bishops of Hereford to establish the new planned town' of Bishop's Castle. David Preshous warmly thanked Dr Morgan for the humour, clarity and scholarship with which he had helped to demystify a historical legacy of such national importance.

SWSHAS is appealing for information for its next exhibition on South West Shropshire in wartime on September 20 and 21, in the Cadet Hall, New Street, during the 2008 Bishop's Castle Michaelmas Fair.

HYSSINGTON FRIENDSHIP CLUB QUIZ: Teams of four are needed for a quiz in Hyssington Village Hall tomorrow (Friday) at 7.30pm. The Hyssington Ladies' Friendship Club will be raising money for their funds, to help pay for guest speakers at their meetings. Mitch Philpott is one of the organisers and she says: "We have 21 lady members in our group and at our last meeting we had a very interesting talk on the lifeboat service." The quiz entry fee is £8 for a team of four, with a raffle and refreshments during the evening.

ENERGY SCHEME EXPANDING: The Household Energy Service, based in Bishop's Castle, is now expanding to cover Knighton, Presteigne and Newtown. Two grants have been obtained which will enable this expansion to take place and four part-time jobs are being advertised to run the expanded service and to manage the volunteer energy surveyors. Dave Green, HES manager, explains: "This is an exciting development for the Household Energy Service and it will mean that we can help many more households to save money, save energy and help the environment. The existing scheme that has been running in Bishop's Castle for two years has proved to be very popular, so it's wonderful to be able to expand. The service is offered free, although donations are requested, so the grant awards were crucial to expanding the service."

The Household Energy Service was developed by the Wasteless Society but is now run by a new community interest company called LightFoot Enterprises CIC. The grants have been obtained from Environment Wales and a small trust called the Waterloo Foundation, both of whom were keen on the service and eager to help it spread and develop. Donations and smaller local grants will still be required to help fund the service.

The jobs on offer include local co-ordinators for Knighton/Presteigne, Newtown and the Bishop's Castle area. Each of these jobs is for one and a half days per week. The service is also looking for an administration officer for its Bishop's Castle office for two days a week. Call Dave Green on 01588 638738 to find out more, or e-mail info@light-foot.org These contact details can also be used by anyone who wants to book a free household energy survey. The HES office at Enterprise House, Bishop's Castle, will have a special open morning for anyone interested on Saturday, from 10am to 1pm. Applications need to be in by Tuesday, May 6.

NO STRIKE AT SCHOOL: Bishop's Castle Primary School will not be affected by the NUT strike today (Thursday).

NEW GOVERNORS: Maxine Ambrose and Louise Price are the new parent governors at Bishop's Castle Primary School. An election was not necessary as only two nominations were received.

YOUNG MUSIC MAKERS: Two private pupils of Bishop's Castle music teacher Sarah Dixon have passed exams with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. Sarah Macmillan, a pupil at Stiperstones Primary School passed grade 1 with distinction and Kirstyn Beadman, who goes to Shrewsbury Girls' School passed grade 2 violin.

LONG DISTANCE WALK: The Bishop's Castle Walking Festival is now in its ninth year and this year it runs from Tuesday to Thursday, June 10 to 12.

Peter Norton, the organiser, said: "Bookings at the present time show that we are 85% full, which means that we still have a few places for local walkers if they wish to join us. We have bookings from all over the country including Holland."

Please ring Gill Lucas on 01588 638854 to book your walk; there is a small charge.

Mr Norton continued: "During the festival we have arranged a fringe programme each evening to entertain our guests.

"A new feature this year is the launch of the first three sections of the bc ring' in the festival. This is a new long-distance walk of 62 miles around Bishop's Castle, which we have divided into five 12-mile sections. The booklet describing the walk will be published on June 10, the first day of the festival."

Call 01588 638118 for details.

LYDBURY SCHOOL SEEKS SUPPORT: The Friends of Lydbury North School want even more support for their campaign to keep the school open. With this in mind, they are holding another of their popular afternoon teas at the school tomorrow (Friday) at 3.20pm. A member of the Friends said: "The consultation with Shropshire County Council ends on May 2 and we want them to see the depth of our concern to the proposed amalgamation of our school. We would appreciate assistance with more letter writing, as we know the SCC will take into account how many letters we receive."

Clee Hill.

LEAGUE OF FRIENDS: ON Sunday, April 13, after the Holy Communion service at St Peter's Church, Clee Hill, a cheque for £150 was presented to the League of Friends, Ludlow Community Hospital.

This money had been raised through donations given by parishioners to the tea and coffee served after the church services on Sunday mornings.

Clows Top.

VICTORY HALL: This Saturday sees ShooShooBaby coming to entertain you with a mixture of music. If you have not yet ordered your tickets for this popular act you are not too late. Supper is included in the price of £10 for adults and £6 for children. You will need to bring your own drinks. Supper is served at 7pm. For details, contact Dave Philips on 012299 832637.

Clun Valley.

CADS VICTORIAN EVENINGS: CADS are staging a Victorian evening at Hightown Community Room tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, starting at 7.30pm. It will include two short, light-hearted plays supported by a number of music hall acts. It will be in cabaret format, include a buffet supper and there will be plenty of opportunity for audience participation. Tickets cost £5 and are available from Davies newsagents and on the door.

LIVE MUSIC: Paul Parker is playing at the White Horse Inn, Clun, tomorrow (Friday).

SUNSHINE BREAKFAST: Ann and Douglas Ogram are inviting parishioners from Bettws, Clun, Newcastle and beyond to join them at the Sun Inn, Clun, on Saturday for Fellowship Communion followed by breakfast. It will be a short, informal service at 8.30am, followed by full breakfast costing £5.50. They need to know numbers for catering so please reserve a place by phoning Ann and Douglas on 01588 640830.

FLICKS IN THE STICKS: Hairspray (PG) is showing at the Memorial Hall, Clun, on Saturday. The film starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £3.50 and £2.50 for under-16s. Call 01588 640254.

ROGATION SERVICE: Churches Together in Clun will be holding a joint service on Rogationtide in the Bridge car park. The service starts at 9.30am with breakfast (Hightown Community Room if wet).

CLUN BOWLING CLUB: The club will be opening for the new season on Sunday when a doubles competition will be held at 2.15pm.

QUIZ NIGHT: It is quiz night at the White Horse Inn on Sunday.

RAMBLERS: Clun Ramblers' evening walk is on Wednesday, April 30, starting from the Memorial Hall car park at 6pm.

ITHON SINGERS COME TO NEWCASTLE: Newcastle Bowling Club will be welcoming the Ithon Singers on Saturday, May 3, at Newcastle Community Centre. Tickets are £5 from Hugh on 01588 640203. The concert starts at 8pm, and there will be a bar and a raffle. If you have any suitable prizes, please let us have them in good time, or bring them with you on the night.

GREEN MAN FESTIVAL: Clun's Green Man Festival will be on over the Bank Holiday weekend featuring the Frost Queen's battle with the Green Man, Clun Mummers, battle re-enactments, morris dancers and much more. Live music starts on Friday evening with an open session by the Travelling Folk at the Sun Inn. There will be a second session on Saturday evening. The Oysterband is playing at the Memorial Hall on Saturday and The Hamsters play on Sunday. Tickets are available from the White Horse Inn, Clun, and Enterprise House, Bishop's Castle. For details of the Green Man Festival, visit www.clungreenman.org.uk Craven Arms.

FORMER HEAD GIVES DRAGONFLIES TALK: At the end of last term Wistanstow CE Primary School held an Easter service in the church. A collection raised £63.55 for church funds, and the churchwarden and treasurer, Janet Woodruffe, has written to the school thanking them for their support.

There will be a talk in Wistanstow Village Hall today (Thursday) by a former headteacher of the school, Stephen Butler, who lives in All Stretton, is a published author and authority on dragonflies and he calls his illustrated talk The Private Lives of Dragonflies.

Proceeds from the evening will go towards reinstating the pond at Wistanstow School. Tickets for the talk, which begins at 7.30pm, are on sale at the school, the Smithy Shop or on the door. The cost is £5/£3 (no under-16s please) to include refreshments.

Ludlow Royal British Legion Women's Section: We had a very successful April meeting and much business was discussed. £100 was sent to County for the purse presentation. We had a competition to make a purse to carry all the monies sent from branches within the county, to go to the National Conference in Blackpool this month. Jan Hinks' purse was the one chosen to go from Ludlow. We are also sending our branch standard bearer and a delegate.

We had a very nice letter from our county chairman, Mrs Kath Burton, thanking us for our very warm welcome when she visited last month's meeting.

For our July meeting we have Mr Peter Westwell coming to talk to us about Chernobyl and the children from there, who they bring over for a holiday. Mr Peter Templeton will be visiting us for our August meeting with his slide show set to music. Our competition for April was an Easter bonnet that was won by Sylvia Morse, 2 Maggie Spittle, 3 Sheila Thomas.

Our May competition is to be a pretty brooch. Don't forget our May meeting has been changed to Friday, May 9, due to the May Fair being here.

Thank you to the tea ladies and to all the members who turned out to make it such a good meeting.

The Strettons.

GARDENING CLUB: Church Stretton and District Gardening Club will be hosting a spring show and plant sale at the Silvester Horne Institute on Tuesday, April 29, at 7pm. During the evening there will be quizzes and refreshments. The Gardening Club has also arranged a coach outing on Thursday, May 1, taking in the Dorothy Clive Garden and Bridgemere Garden World. The coach will leave the car park at 9.15am returning at approximately 6.30pm. The cost per person in £11.50 including entry to the gardens. Non-members are welcome. To enquire for seats ring Richard Turner-Jones on 01694 724371.

SENIOR CITIZENS: The Senior Citizens' Club met on Friday, April 11, and members enjoyed Mr Ralph Oldham's travels with a tape recorder'. Raffle tickets were drawn and the winners were Joan Scott, Dot Alston, Mary Jones, Dora Wright, Emily Hunt and Gwyneth Smith.

This week's meeting tomorrow (Friday) takes place at the URC Hall at 2.30pm. This time the speaker will be Malcolm Bishop who will talk about his 50 years in photography. There will also be a chance to reserve a seat on the coach for the first trip of 2008 which will be on Tuesday, May 13. This trip will be a countryside mystery tour with a stop for lunch en route. Visitors are welcome at the meeting. To enquire for seats on the trip, ring 01694 722454.

ROTARY HOLIDAY: The closing date for applying to join the Rotary holiday to Blackpool during the week of July 3 to 10 is April 30. To enquire for places ring 01694 720177 or 724579.

ORIENTEERING: An introduction to orienteering is on offer by Wrekin Orienteers on Saturday. A simple course has been developed in Carding Mill Valley and will be led from 11am to noon. Cost of this is £2.

RAMBLERS: The South Shropshire Ramblers Association has planned a walk for Sunday and welcomes visitors to join in. The walk starts at 10.30am from the Roman Bank lay-by at Rushbury and will cover five miles over fields and woods. Suitable clothing and walking boots should be worn and picnics are welcomed. Dogs are not allowed. To find out more, ring Joy on 01694 722512.

CAKE BREAK: Mrs Seagar is hosting a cake bake morning in aid of the MS Society's cake break' tomorrow (Friday) at 25, Stretton Farm Road. All are welcome to call in from 10am to noon.

COFFEE MORNINGS: A coffee morning at The Boulders, 38 Shrewsbury Road, will take place on Saturday from 10.30am to noon. Admission is £1 and proceeds will go St Edith's Church, Eaton-u-Heywood.

A coffee morning at the URC Hall on Saturday from 10 to 11.30am will raise money for the Buildings Fund.

Saturday, May 3, will see the Strettons branch of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust celebrating its 40th season with a coffee morning and plant sale at the parish centre from 10am to noon.

PUDDING EVENING: On Saturday evening, at Mayfair Community Centre, there will be a chance to sample five homemade puddings at the event which is hosted by Pauline Greenhough and friends. The evening will open at 7.30pm when canapés will be served. Pudding tasters are invited to take along their own wine. Enquiries for tickets which cost £10 should be made through Mayfair.

THE GATHERING: On Saturday, the parish centre will be the venue for the Youth Event with the Edge, when from 7.30pm to 10pm there will be live music, Nintendo Wii video, hot chocolate and more. Call Owen on 07805 455141 or John on 07913 861608.

QUIZ NIGHT: The Guides and Rangers have postponed their quiz night at the parish hall to Saturday, May 10. The evening starts at 7.30pm and the £5 entry fee includes supper. Tickets are being sold through Burway Books, or on 01694 723390. Proceeds will be for the Air Ambulance and Church Stretton Rangers.

CHARITIES DAY: A local charities day will take place on Saturday, sponsored by the town council in the Market Square.

BAND CALL: A local amateur band is seeking a base guitarist and a drummer aged 12 to 14 years who have their own instruments and would like to join in playing retro-rock style. Find out more by ringing Jack on 01694 724966.

INFORMAL CONCERT: An informal concert by Salop Musica will take place at Little Stretton Village Hall on Friday, May 2, at 7pm. The theme of the evening will be theatre music through the ages. Admission is free with a retiring collection.

CINEMA: Flicks in the Sticks at All Stretton Village Hall tomorrow (Friday) will be Brick Lane, starting at 7.30pm. Pay at the door.

CLIMATE CARE: The Strettons Climate Care Group hosted an evening with Mark Lymas at Church Stretton School which attracted a large audience. Introduced by the chair of the group, Jon Cooke, Mark gave his six degrees' presentation indicating the likely effects each extra degree of warming would bring to our planet. During the interval he was invited to judge the t-shirt designs which Church Stretton School pupils had produced with the winning design to be printed on t-shirts worn by the Climate Care group at their various events. Strap lines were also judged and six of those will be used on the Climate Care website.

During the interval, cheese and wine from local producers was available as refreshments and the evening was rounded off when Mark answered questions from the floor. A vote of thanks was given.

Stretton Climate Care continues to offer carbon footprint sessions on Monday afternoons at the library starting at 2pm, and also evening sessions at Mayfair on the first Tuesday of every month from 7pm. To book a place at either of these sessions ring 01694 724040 or 723205.

The next fundraising event on the Climate Care calendar is on Saturday, May 24, and will be the first annual duck race to be held in Carding Mill Valley, with races from 11am to 4pm.

CAMERA CLUB: The Longmynd Camera Club ends its season with the Photographer of the Year competition on Wednesday, April 30, when Peter Rees, FRPS, EFIAP will be the judge. The club holds its fortnightly meetings in the URC Hall on Wednesdays at 7.30pm and welcomes visitors and new members. To find out more about the club's activities ring the secretary, Graham Brown, on 01743 353485.

ARCHERY: On Saturday, the Longmynd Archery Club will be offering an opportunity for people to have a go at archery over at the club field at New House Farm. All equipment will be supplied, the entry fee is £5 for adults and £3 for anyone under 18.

TENNIS: The Church Stretton Lawn Tennis Club is offering a nine-week course for juniors aged 16 and under, whatever their level of ability in the sport, starting on Saturday, May 10, from 10am to 1pm. The course is £37 and is run by LTA qualified coach, Paul Roberts-Bennett. Application forms need to be submitted by Tuesday, April 29, and are available from the primary school office. To find out more, ring 01694 723916 or 722547.

SCHOOL NEWS: Friends of St Lawrence's Primary School are organising a plant sale on Saturday, May 10, and Year 5 pupils will be creating things to sell on the day. Donations of clean, undamaged terracotta pots would be greatly appreciated to help with the project.

The pupils at St Lawrence's celebrated St George's Day with a special lunch menu. The school also runs a daily Breakfast Club.

Year six pupils recently entered a competition to design a cart, which is sponsored by Inchcape of Shrewsbury in conjunction with Enginuity and have learned that Sarah Lewis's design has been selected as one of the ten winners from Phase 1 of the competition. Nearly 400 entries were submitted from primary schools across Shropshire and many of these are on display at the Inchcape showrooms in Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury, Telford, Oswestry and at Enginuity in Ironbridge. Congratulations to Sarah who will be presented with a certificate to acknowledge her success in this first stage of the competition. The school will receive a kit containing all the materials necessary to build the cart.

The children will be invited to Enginuity where Sarah will take the vehicle around a test course before the winning design is chosen.

As part of Class 8's fundraising project, £35 has been sent to Get Bear Smart Society in Whistler, Canada, to help towards the work the society is doing in protecting the bears. This links in with the play A Question of Bears which the pupils performed at Concord College in February.

The school is justly proud of the footballers of the under-10s girls' and boys' teams and the under-11s boys' teams for their efforts in winning through to the finals of the county cup competition. It is fair to say that they just didn't get the breaks in the final matches and all teams came out in third position. Well done to them all and a thank-you to the parents who have supported the teams.

At Church Stretton School, a number of Year 9 pupils are to be congratulated for completing the library assistant training scheme, level 2. The course is run jointly by Shropshire County Council and Telford and Wrekin Council. Congratulations also to Year 8 pupil, Miranda Lowe, who won through to the national level of the Lion Club's peace poster competition.

Year 9 pupil Jack Welch won the youth expert class in the sixth trial of the Central Wales Auto Club's Roger Haughfling Motorcycle Trial. In the South Shropshire MCC first round of the 2008 trials championship, Tom Foulkes, also of Year 9, won the youth expert class. Year 10 pupil, Tom Everett, competed for the West Midlands Modern Pentathlon Club and ended a successful first year by achieving a top place in the national finals. After gaining sixth place overall and a trophy position, he rushed off to Much Wenlock to compete in the Shropshire Young Athletes cross-country league where he took third place, as an individual and as a team member with fellow runners including Russell Adams of Year 9. Well done to all of them.

A number of pupils have taken part in a digital photography workshop, while KS1 and KS2 pupils at St Lawrence's and Year 9s at Church Stretton School will be getting ready for their SATs. We wish them all well.

1:43pm Monday 28th April 2008

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