Village news from Helen Price – 2/11/17

Published 30 October 2017

Helen Price
01543 472203

Whist drive

The whist drive will be held at Kings Bromley Village Hall, on Tuesday 7th November. Anyone is welcome to join us at 1.30 for a 2.00 pm prompt start.

WI Craft afternoon at Royal Oak, Thursday 9th November

The WI craft group meet once a month over coffee and a chat. Please come along and join in, everyone is welcome.

Quiz Night and Grand Draw, Saturday 11th November

Tickets are available for this event on Saturday 11th November at 7.00 pm in the Village Hall, priced £5 each, including light refreshments. Teams strictly limited to a maximum of four players. Anyone willing to donate a prize for the Grand Draw, please ring Gill or Glen Wright on 472622.

Kings Bromley Best Kept Village Award

At a ceremony held by the Jubilee Seat on Friday 20th October, Kings Bromley were presented with the Best Kept Village Trophy for the Lichfield and Cannock District for the sixth year in a row. Parish Council Chairman Allan Howard welcomed villagers, guests and representatives from the Council.

Allan thanked the Councils for their continued support for the Best Kept Village competition in the current climate of cutbacks. John Perry, Chairman of the BKV Working Group, then gave his remarks on behalf of the Group and the judges; once again praise was given for the way the Church and its surrounds were maintained, the quality of the posters produced by the children of the Richard Crosse School which were displayed in the Village Hall and the general state of the public spaces and private house fronts.

Following the ceremony, everyone was welcomed back to the Chairman’s house for refreshments.

Ivy Butcher’s Book Launch, Saturday 14th October

Ivy Butcher, local historian and author, signed copies of her seventh book, On Being A Hundred, at The Royal Oak. The book features highlights of Ivy’s special centenary year with stories and photos throughout and sold very well on the day. A few copies still available on request.

Morrisons store in Lichfield also invited Ivy, one of their regular customers, to cut the ribbon at the opening of their refurbished store last week.

Village news from Helen Price – 19/10/17

Published 20 October 2017

Helen Price
Kings Bromley
01543 472203
Kings Bromley WI
This month’s meeting saw the ladies of the WI learn all about the art of silversmithing and the different stages of making jewellery. Gaynor Woodward isn’t a professional but has a true passion for the craft, learning the art from attending adult education classes at Lichfield and Stafford colleges. Gaynor spoke about the history of jewellery from painting bodies, to tattoos and piercing. Gaynor’s jewellery is made from silver.
We were shown all the different tools used and how each process can take many hours to produce the finished article. Gaynor brought along different samples of each stage and had an array of beautiful hand-crafted unique jewellery for us to look at and purchase.
At the end of September the ladies met up with other local institutions at Hill Ridware village hall for a group meeting. We had the pleasure of being entertained by Judith Hibbert who is an actress and after dinner speaker, and the mother to Eleanor Tomlinson of Poldark fame. Judith has worked in TV, theatre and cabaret. Judith performed “Around the Wireless” with her portrayal and tribute to Julie Andrews, Joyce Grenfell, Gracie Fields and more. The hall was lit up with laughter as Judith is an extremely funny and talented lady. The ladies of the Ridware WI provided us with a beautiful buffet and refreshments.
We are supporting the Pop Up for Poppies campaign and hoping to produce knitted poppies to be displayed throughout 2018 commemorating the centenary of the end of WW1. We meet up for a knit and natter craft group on a monthly basis in the Royal Oak on the 2nd Thursday of the month from 2.30pm , if you would like to join us for a cup of tea and a chance to take part in making some poppies please feel free to join us , it’s open to all.
Our next meeting on 2nd November will be all about Relaxation and Meditation with Bernadette Woodward plus we shall be holding a Bring and Buy Sale on that evening too.
Whist Drive, Tuesday 24th October
The whist drive takes place fortnightly at the Village Hall, 1.30 for a prompt start at 2.00 pm.

Open Gardens 2018

Published 19 October 2017

Kings Bromley Open Gardens will be on the 16th and 17th June 2018. Would anybody who would like to open their garden or be involved in any way please contact Allan Howard on 472720.
This event has raised £4000 over the last few years which has been given to the Village Hall Renovation Fund.

Allan Howard

Village news from Helen Price – 14/10/17

Published 9 October 2017

Ivy Butcher’s Book Launch Saturday 14th October

Now in her 102nd year, Ivy Butcher is launching her new book “On Being a Hundred”. Please come along to the Royal Oak and purchase your signed copy between 2.00 – 4.00 p.m, Saturday 14th October.

Kings Bromley Gardening Guild

In September, members of the Gardening Guild enjoyed an evening visit to The Plant Plot in Lichfield, with members of staff giving a tour around the garden centre and grounds, which were more extensive than expected. This was followed by refreshments – delicious sandwiches, cake and drinks were provided – and an opportunity to purchase plants and garden items.
The next meeting will take place in the Village Hall on 16th October when there will be a talk on ‘Seasonal Changes at the Dorothy Clive Garden’.

Historians Meeting September 29th

We heard a moving account of the Fauld Explosion from a 1983 radio programme, in which various survivors of the day spoke of their memories. 27th November 1944 dawned bright and clear in Hanbury and the war seemed reasonably remote. However in the gypsum mine the previous day a Safety Officer was so concerned by what he saw he returned with a superior officer on the 27th. The mines were huge with ¾ mile of railtrack connecting the various areas where 14,000 tons of ammunition were stored and the work being carried out was not isolated from the ammunition. However, the Safety Officers did not have the authority to halt the work.

At lunchtime that day came the explosion which was the largest in the world until Hiroshima. Railtracks, rocks, trees and soil were thrown thousands of feet into the air taking with them houses, animals, people and the dam, which resulted in a great wave of mud, obliterating everything in its path. 68 people died that day but mercifully none of the 50 children in the school.

Our next meeting on Friday 27th October is an outing to Breedon on the Hill. Anyone wishing to join us please ring Allan on 472720 or Val on 472941.

Wednesday Club Meeting, 4th October

After welcoming members to the meeting Anne asked for a short time of reflection in memory of Elma Mellor who had served on the committee and had been a very loyal member of the Club.
Our Christmas Lunch this year has been booked at the Royal Oak on 13th December. Menus were distributed to members and it would be appreciated if choices and money could be received at the November meeting.
Our speaker for the afternoon was Mr D. Tamea with his portraits of the Rich and Famous. He had had a photographic shop and when he sold up on his retirement he decided to concentrate on taking portraits. He said as he was deaf he would show us two photographs of deaf people, the first was Evelyn Glennie, Scottish percussionist, and Eric Sykes, comedian, who was not only deaf but was also almost blind. His spectacles had no glass in them but they were fitted with hearing aids!!! He showed us so many beautiful photographs including Bobby George, Norman Tebbit, Kriss Akabusi and Jack Straw. He had also photographed two very prestigious women – the first was the Chief Constable of Staffordshire, Jane Sawyers and the second the first woman Chief Fire Officer for Stafford County, Becci Bryant. He had also photographed Simon West, Ken Dodd and Harry Secombe, the list was endless. Among his portfolio was a photograph of Jill Dando whom the BBC described as this extraordinary, ordinary girl. He said how moved he was on hearing of her tragic death.
Our next meeting is the AGM on 1st November in the Village Hall at 2.30p.m. The speaker for the afternoon will be Mrs. Audrey Hall with a Christmas Miscellany.

Village news from Helen Price – 5/10/17

Published 2 October 2017

Helen Price
01543 472203

Whist drive

The first whist drive of the season will be held at Kings Bromley Village Hall, on Tuesday 10th October, 1.30 for a 2.00 prompt start. Please ring Kate on 07710 119039 for further information.

WI Craft afternoon at Royal Oak, Thursday 12th October

The WI craft group meet once a month over coffee and a chat. Please come along and join us.

Quiz Night and Grand Draw, Saturday 11th November

Tickets will soon be available for this event on Saturday 11th November at 7.00 pm in the Village Hall, priced £5 each, including light refreshments. Teams strictly limited to a maximum of four players. Anyone willing to donate a prize for the Grand Draw, please ring Gill or Glen Wright on 472622.

Kings Bromley Show 2018, Saturday 28th July

Please come and join us at the Royal Oak on Tuesday 17th October at 7.30 pm for an informal meeting to discuss next year’s show. We would very much welcome any fresh blood with new ideas/talents/enthusiasm. If you feel you can help in any way and would like to get more involved in village life, do come along and give us a try. If you can’t make the meeting but are interested, please ring Kirsten Harber on 07766 316316.

Next year’s theme is Staffordshire Life.