The Tintern News
Produced by the
Friends of Tintern – November 2006
TINTERN SENIOR CITIZENS – CHRISTMAS LUNCH
The annual Christmas lunch for Tintern Seniors will be held at the Anchor Hotel on Monday 11th December starting at 12.00pm. The lunch is free to those residents of Tintern who are aged 60 and over. Ex-residents of Tintern, who are 60+ are also welcome to come to the lunch but will be asked to pay a contribution of £5.00 towards the meal.
Entertainment will be provided by the
If you wish to reserve a place at the lunch please inform or telephone one of the following by 1st December, as place numbers are limited:
Sue Ball - 01291 689629
Janet Hill – 01291 689591
Tony Parsons – 01291 689446
Dave and Dee Yeomans (at the Anchor) – 01291 689207
Please also indicate whether or not you will require transport to be provided to and from the Anchor.
As we
come to the end of October so we come to the end of the grape harvest. This
year has seen a bumper crop for vineyards throughout
The
new vines (a red variety called Regent) which we planted in 2002 produced their
first proper crop this year so next year we will have more red wine to sell.
2006
has been a successful year in competitions too. Our rose, medium dry and dry
white wines all won awards in the U.K. Wine of the Year Competition in June.
At
the beginning of September we travelled to
In
May, during Welsh Wine Week, we gave visitors tastings
of Welsh cheeses. These proved so popular that we decided to sell cheese all
the time. Demand has been amazing – people obviously want farm produced Welsh
produce - which is very pleasing.
Autumn
is the time for tidying the garden and planting perennials and shrubs. We are
holding our plant sale at the moment with many of our plants half price or
less. Colin is always happy to give advice on any gardening problems.
On
a rather sad note, Mini, our 19 year old
With
Christmas in mind, we shall be putting on the Nativity scene again this year
and selling Christmas trees, holly wreaths, holly, mistletoe and planted bowls
as well as wine, cheese and preserves. We look forward to seeing you in
December.
Judith
Dudley
“Nativity with Live Animals “ at the Vineyard – weekends in December and all the last week before Christmas 10.30a.m. - 4p.m.
TINTERN VPA
The monthly meeting of Tintern VPA was held on Friday 20th October in the Village Hall.
Mr Adrian Wood of The Nurtons in Tintern gave us a very interesting illustrated talk on the history and evolution of the gardens at The Nurtons. The house and land was owned by Mr Wood’s father and was for many years run as an organic market garden business (long before organically grown produce became as well known as it now is.)
Outwardly the house looks Victorian but research has revealed Elizabethan timbers within it, and there is reason to believe that buildings have probably been on the site for a very long time. There is a piece of dry stone wall visible at the site boundary which is constructed in a herring bone fashion typical of Roman walling found at Caerwent.
Adrian and his wife Elsa (with help from their daughter) have gradually developed about 4 acres of the land near the house into a garden (or series of linked gardens).
Much is well drained, south facing and suits Mediterranean plants but there are also shady areas on the edge of woodland and a natural spring. The garden is open to visitors in the summer months.
The next meeting of the VPA will be on Friday 17th November at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall when the speaker will be Dr Stephanie Tyler talking about “River Birds in Monmouthshire”. The competition will be a bird photograph. New members are always welcome.
TINTERN WI
In
October we had a visit from Jo Dawson our Federation Chairman. She gave a short talk on the advantages and
work of WI. Jo told us of the
wide-ranging interests that can be developed through belonging to a national
organisation such as WI. We had a good
turn out for the meeting and everyone was able to voice her opinion as to the
future of
Many members helped with the refreshments at the flu clinic and we made £70 for the surgery, which was a very good result. The soup lunches will start again on Wednesday 1st November and again WI members will be busy working in the kitchen.
On Monday 23rd October, five WI members and one large dog went for a walk. Despite the mud we walked along the riverbank and then up the hill to Brockweir. It was very mild weather so we were happy to sit outside the Brockweir shop and enjoy a cup of coffee before walking back via the less muddy Old Station.
The next monthly meeting at Tintern Village Hall will be on Monday 20th November at 2.00pm. We will be making Christmas cards and decorations. Come along to the meeting if you are interested in joining in. If you would like further information about WI please phone Jean Davey on 689212 or Christine Bradshaw on 689877
If you enjoyed our homemade biscuits at the Flu Clinic in the
Village Hall,
why not come to one of our lunches? Homemade soup and pudding for £3,
at Tintern Village Hall 12.30 to 2pm, Wednesday 1st
November or, if you miss that one, come to our Christmas Special on Wednesday 6th
December.
Hope to see you. All profits go to the Village Hall.
Thanks
Jan Gibbard
I’d like to thank Mr Alan Butt for responding to my communications. It’s good to know that someone else has an opinion and is prepared to voice it. I am not sure that I can subscribe to Alan’s private finance initiative for Tintern but I wish him well in his endeavours.
I would like to clear up a few points that
Alan raised so that we can move on and come together in this beautiful
community of ours. Where I socialise in the Parish is of my choosing it happens
to be the Cherry Tree, excellent beer and brilliant food, thanks Steve and
Jill. How I contribute to making a better life for others is also my choice. I
am off to
I do live here in the Parish of Tintern, I also vote here and work here and pay both council tax and business rates. These monies are paid to MCC to provide us with the services and infrastructure within our community. For many years MCC has got away with saying that there is no money to sort out all the various challenges here in our Parish. It has been generally felt that TCC, our representatives, have in the past, not delivered results that we badly need. That has changed recently by pressure brought to bear by members of our community. I know that the new Chair is working hard to deliver results. In a democracy it is our right to pressurise our representatives to deliver what we would expect in a civilized society. After all what is the point of paying for it and getting little back? If we do nothing then things will go nowhere. If we keep the pressure up then things will happen.
As for my business, I am very proud of my contribution to the Tintern skyline, two nice buildings designed and built in harmony with the Abbey, both bought and paid for. I, like many here in the village, regularly visit Ginger Blue for excellent coffee and quality food, thank you Tony and Bridget. The Café looks good and is always busy why not drop by for a coffee?
My greatest wish for the Tintern Parish is to see the Village Hall in regular use by the community just like Llandogo, Llanishen, Devauden and Catbrook, to name but a few. After all it is our community space.
With sincere regard, Andi Francis
Week beginning
23rd October Mrs. H. Ford + 1
7th November Trudy and Nina Phelps
21st November Ann and Barry Richardson
4th December Elspeth Reid and Karen Luff
18th December Janet, Sue and Barbara
January 2007
1st January Jan Gibbard
15th January Mrs. H. Ford
We aim to clean the church every two weeks. If you wish to change your week due to other commitments please arrange this yourself with other helpers on the rota. Anyone else wishing to offer approximately 2 hours of their time every 10 to 12 weeks please contact one of the helpers on the list.
This is the church of our village, so we need to keep it looking good. If you know that you may be planning a christening, a wedding or even trying to think ahead to plan your own funeral and burial – you will want the church to be looking good. If our church is not kept clean and up to scratch we may lose it, as it is hardly ever used for normal church services.
NB: When the church gets flooded all available help will be required. SB.
If you would like a play bus to visit the village on a
weekly basis for pre-school children and their parents – please ring Tony Parsons
on 01291 689446
Sunday 5th November – 7.35pm – 7.90m
Sue Ball – would like to thank everyone for the flowers and cards that she has received recently whilst being laid up, and especially her family and friends or all their help and support.
Frank Keys lived in Tintern
for around fifteen years, leaving a few years ago to move to Cheddar.
Whilst he was in Tintern he was a mainstay of
the church and the church magazine. He wrote all the best articles in the
magazine. He has had heart problems for some time and has now died at
Cheddar.
He, and his wife Margaret, have lots of friends in Tintern
who kept in touch with him and are most sorry to hear that he is no longer with
us. JB
*************
Brockweir Bonfire Night. Licensed bar & FREE supper. Starts 6.30pm, fireworks 7.30pm. Tickets: Family £15, Single £5.
Wednesday 8th November – 7.30pm Bingo at the Anchor
Friday 17th November – 7.30 – Tintern VPA
Monday 20th November – 2.00pm
Wednesday 6th December – 7.30pm Bingo at the Anchor Hotel
Sunday 10th December 6.30pm – Christmas Lights Switch
On at the
Monday 11th December, 12 noon – Tintern
Senior citizens Christmas Party at the Anchor Hotel.
CATBROOK MEMORIAL HALL EVENTS 2006
Friday 3rd November - Film Night - Walk the Line. 7.30 p.m. £3 per head.
Sunday 12th November at 11 a.m. Remembrance Day Service with Monmouth Band.
Friday 24th November - Arts Variety Show featuring Frank Hennessy &
Friends. 7.30 p.m.
Saturday 9th December - Dougie Watts Singing Duo.
7.30 p.m.
Sunday 17th December at 3 p.m. - Carol Service with Monmouth Band.
Friday 15th & 29th December - Whist Drives. 7.30 p.m.
Wednesday 20th December - The Narth Singing
Group. 7.30 p.m.
New Year's Eve - Comedian with music and supper. Further
details to follow.
Friday 9th March 2007 - Rig-a-Gig Ceilidh.
Coffee Mornings held in the hall on the third Tuesday of each month at 10.30
a.m.
Yoga Classes held every Tuesday, 7-9 p.m. and Thursday, 10.30-12.00. Call
Ruth Routh for details on 01600-860648.
For details of all other events or to hire the hall contact Rosemary Stevens on
01600-860451.
Items for the Newsletter
Items for the Tintern Newsletter from
home or abroad can be sent by email to andrew.elspeth@virgin.net
delivered to Wye Barn, Tintern, or tel 01291 689456.
Please ensure that items for the December edition of the
Newsletter are received by 26th November, 2006.
The Tintern Newsletter is sponsored by the Lower Wye Area Committee.
The Tintern News is a vehicle for the expression of opinion by
all members of the Tintern community. While it does
not necessarily endorse the views of any particular contributors, it does
wholeheartedly support the promotion of lively debate on the development of the
village and of freedom of speech in general. However, it will reserve the right
to edit any contributions in order to preserve moderation and a spirit of good
intent in the presentation of arguments. Thoughts from everyone in our
community will continue to be very welcome. ER