Blog Page 42

Rating: ***** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
Russia’s most famous ballet has its lake of swans, but we have the one with the shed of chickens.

Annual gas safety checks on homes owned by Stroud District Council will soon be carried out by a new team of heating engineers who will be directly employed by the council.
SDC will be holding a recruitment open evening at the Council Offices in Ebley on Monday, May 18, from 4pm-7pm for prospective candidates to “drop-in”. The new team will be known as Stroud District Council Heating Services.

Rating: *** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison

I couldn’t help but think of recent election speeches as I read one commentator’s verdict on this 400-year-old thriller of vows made and broken.

By Revd Josie Goodwin

The media have gone into overdrive. No, I’m not talking about the good news of the arrival of a princess – a baby girl for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – I’m talking about the soundbite-popping photo-opping frenzy that brings us into the week we elect (or should I say try to elect?) a new government.

Parents are being advised to book early for a popular children’s summer play scheme in the Cotswolds before all the places are snapped up. 
Kapers is backed by Stroud District Council and provides a series of action-packed sessions during August. 
This includes arts and crafts, games and competitions, drama and music, sports and activities, special workshops and themed weeks.
As well as structured activities, there’s also plenty of time for free play or to just relax and chill out. 
The scheme is run by an experienced, enthusiastic and energetic team. At a fraction of the childcare costs, this is a fantastic opportunity to get the children out of the house, active and learning in a sociable and friendly environment.
Kapers takes place from Mondays to Fridays at the following locations:
August 3-7: Wotton Sports Centre, Katharine Lady Berkeley’s School
August 10-14: Maidenhill Sport & Dance Centre, Maidenhill School
August 17-21: Thomas Keble Sports Centre, Thomas Keble School
August 24-28: Thomas Keble Sports Centre, Thomas Keble School
Booking forms can be downloaded at www.kapers.org.uk or email kapers@stroud.gov.uk or call 01453 754508.

The deadline is fast approaching for people to register to take part in the Generation Games at Stratford Park in Stroud.
The event, on Sunday June 21, is a day of sport and physical activity for everyone from small children to grandparents. If you want to take part in the fun, you have to sign up by Monday, May 11.

Gloucestershire libraries are looking for enthusiastic young people aged 13 to 24 years to help children aged 4 to 11 to read six books during the long summer holiday. 
The new recruits will have the opportunity to improve their communication skills, meet new people and gain valuable experience for their CV.
This year, the Reading Agency lead event is being run with Guinness World Records, and each of the titles included has a record breakers theme. 
Volunteers will help library staff bring together fact and fiction, inspiring young readers to learn about some of the achievements that make up the Guinness World Records books, talking to children about the books they have read, and helping with summer activities.
Last year 150 young people helped across the county. Hours are flexible and can be negotiated at each library. All volunteers will receive a free pack, including a Record Breakers T-Shirt, and a booklet to record the skills and experiences gained
Cllr Andrew Gravells, cabinet member for libraries, said: “Volunteering in our libraries can be really rewarding and can help spark a life-long love of reading for the children visiting. The Summer Reading Challenge is a great opportunity to get involved. Let’s make it a record-breaking summer for reading.”
Anyone interested can apply online or print out the form and drop it to their nearest library www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/libraries/volunteers
Further details about various volunteering opportunities are available at all local libraries. 
More information about Gloucestershire Libraries and the Summer Reading Challenge are online at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/libraries and www.readingagency.org.uk/readinghack

A Cotswolds castle is set to go back in time to celebrate May Day in an exciting event for the bank holiday weekend.
On Sunday, May 3, Sudeley Castle & Gardens, situated just outside Winchcombe, will welcome an historic re-enactment group, Seven Dials Rapscallions, who will be portraying Victorian gentry enjoying a gentle game of cricket and a delicate, dignified picnic on the lawn, harking back to the Victorian era at Sudeley.

This Sunday, join Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust for a new and free fun family event at Robinswood Hill Country Park, Gloucester, incorporating a dog show organised by Teckels Animal Sanctuaries from 11am-3pm.
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust president and BBC TV presenter Ellie Harrison will be guest of honour on the day, taking part in wildlife activities and judging some of the classes in the dog show.

The Cotswold Show & Food Festival has been busy working on its brand new cookery theatre for this year’s show and the line-up is now complete.
Chefs from some of the best hotels and restaurants in the Cotswolds will be appearing, including The Kings Head, Cirencester, Wild Garlic in Nailsworth, The Gumstool Inn at Calcot and The Potting Shed at Crudwell.

More top chef names have been added to The Big Feastival 2015, the ultimate music, food and family festival of the summer, which returns for its fourth year on Alex James’ Cotswold farm from August 28-30.
The new batch of culinary talent that will be giving unmissable cooking demonstrations on The AEG Big Kitchen include restaurateur Mark Hix with fish maestro Mitch Tonks, food fashionista Gizzi Erskine, as well as The Fabulous Baker Brothers Tom & Henry Herbert.

An ‘Infographic’, described as ‘Chipping Campden in a poster’ has been launched.
Packed full of interesting facts and figures about the beautiful Cotswold market town, the infographic gives a taste of what an amazing town Chipping Campden is.

The Kingham Plough is hosting its annual Farmer’s Market on Sunday, May 3, from 10.30am to 2pm.
The market provides a great opportunity for local artisan suppliers to showcase their produce and for attendees to discover them.

Recent statistics from leading property specialists holidaycottages.co.uk show a surge in interest for breaks in the Cotswolds.
Famed for its rolling hills and honey-coloured limestone rural villages, web searches for short breaks in the region have seen a 59 per cent increase year-on-year.

The first ever rapid Electric Vehicle Charging Point (EVCP) in Cotswold district is now up and running at the Old Market Way car park in Moreton-in-Marsh.
Another EVCP at the Beeches car park in Cirencester should also be activated very soon. The latter was damaged by vandals but has now been repaired and is now just awaiting commissioning and then registration with the ‘Charge Your Car’ network.

Three top Cotswolds Tourism award winners have been shortlisted as finalists at the prestigious national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2015.
The Manor House Hotel, Moreton-in-Marsh, and Ellenborough Park Hotel, near Cheltenham, have both been nominated for the VisitEngland Large Hotel category after winning gold and silver respectively in the Cotswolds Tourism awards.

Cotswolds residents are uniting in their opposition to a proposed new housing estate in their “jewel” of a village.
Developers CALA have put in an application for an estate of 33 houses on the Little Shoe Broad field in Blockley.
The deadline for comments to Cotswold District Council, who will decided the application, is this coming Monday (April 20).
Opponents claim the CALA’s application doesn’t conform to Local Plan policies and Blockley Parish Council data shows there’s no need for such estates in the village as there’s already empty social housing there.
They say the community overwhelmingly opposes such housing estates and only one respondent to CALA’s mailshot was in favour of the development.
Blockley Environmental Action Group (BEAG) was formed in April 2014 when a spontaneous gathering of more than 100 residents voted unanimously that “we are opposed to all large scale developments in Blockley”. 
Group member Matthew Cohn, aka musician Matt Black, said: “My dad was involved in the campaign to ‘Keep Blockley a Village’ when he was alive and I feel the same way. I say ‘let the towns become bigger towns if that’s what they want, but let the villages stay villages…else we lose an irreplaceable part of England.”
Mr Cohn claimed CALA’s application is flawed in many ways in areas such as transport and environmental impact and they “gloss over” the flood risk, totally ignoring the fact that the site was heavily flooded in 2007.
He is also worried about the extra pressure on roads and fears that fatal accidents will result from the overuse of the Draycott Road.
Mr Cohn said Cotswold District Council had not been able to get a proper Local Development Plan together which puts them in a weak position with respect to the existing Government ‘presumption in favour of development’ .
“The term ‘sustainable development’ is brandished around but when Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty designations are just trampled on in favour of more building, as they are being all over the UK in cases like ours, you have to wonder why they even bother to have AONBs.” 
But he added: “Blockley has seen off some previous development threats and we will continue to fight for our village.”

The cream of Oxfordshire’s music scene will be appearing at the the Riverside Stage at this year’s Cornbury Music Festival, which is set to feature music legends such as Sir Tom Jones, Martha Reeves and Billy Ocean.
Oxfordshire blues band King B make a nostalgic return to the Cornbury Music Festival, held at Great Tew, this year. Twelve years ago this popular local group were picked to open the very first Cornbury Music Festival. Now they’re back to headline the Riverside Stage on Saturday.

Gloucestershire County Council is holding a fostering drop in event at Stonehouse Library, Elm Road, GL10 2NP on Thursday, April 23, from 2pm-4.30pm.  

People are invited to come along and have a chat about fostering and can take information away.

The county council accepts applications to foster from all sectors of society. There is no upper age limit to foster and people can be married, single, co-habiting, in a heterosexual or same sex relationship, a homeowner or renting a property.

All children are different, and to meet their needs, the county council is looking for a wide variety of people. However, all applicants will need to be over 21 and have a spare room (or spare rooms for siblings) in their home.

The county council is particularly keen to hear from people looking to foster older children and teenagers.

For further information about fostering with the county council, call 01242 532654.

Now that nominations have closed for parliamentary and local elections, Cotswold District Council is urging residents to make sure that they are ready, and able, to cast their votes.
All registered voters across the constituency (nearly 77,000) should now have received their poll cards, and the council is keen to ensure that anyone else entitled to vote does not miss out.