Our Virtual Village – A Village Property

A new feature for the Village in 2021 is a new Heading on the website called Our Virtual Village. Each month about different Village property will be featured featuring the History of a Village Property.

Our Virtual Village

In the Virtual Village, each page added will be written by house owners themselves or Villagers who have researched a specific property. It’s history and it’s owners, with interesting stories and facts.

We welcome owners or Villagers to put forward an article for publication. On the Our Virtual Village page on the website. We give some guidelines and how to get involved. This new feature is designed that each House page can be expanded. Other people might want to add further information or stories to a property.

Our forthcoming articles

• January – Combe House, Street Farm, and Granary Barn
• February – Langside cottage, the history of its place in village life from the 1700s to the present day Langside.
• March – Melksham Court
• April – Old Clingre Farm
• May – The Buildings
• June – Court Barn
• July – Lamport Court

The first article on Combe House, Street Farm and Granary Barn is written by Roger Batty and is now live on the website. Further detailed and interesting information can be found in the article if you click on the words typed in red.

• Our Virtual Village
• The story of the Oxford vaccine
• A Village Property
• Stinchcombe Local History Society

The Vale Hospital

The Vale Hospital Dursley is one of five Gloucestershire covid vaccine centres administering the Covid vaccine.

The League of Friends at the Vale hospital has been contacted by local surgeries. Asking if they can inform as many people as possible not to contact surgeries directly regarding vaccination availability.

At the present time local surgeries are being inundated with unnecessary phone calls.

In line with the guidance set out by the Government, Surgeries will contact their patients when they are eligible.

Please Note

The Vale Hospital is closed for minor emergencies whilst they are using it for vaccinations. The rest of the hospital is operating as normal.

Ava Walker

A difficult year

2020 has been a very difficult time for many people with the Covid Pandemic and lockdowns. The Village Hall was not exempt from these effects. There was a 5 month period of no income at all to cover the running costs and maintenance.

However with the benefit of several Grants, some generous donations of Machinery and fuel, we managed to create not only a much larger and much needed overflow Car Park but also a secure Amenity area. These will compliment the Hall for social events during next years Summer months. There are also further enhancements planned for next year.

Tree planting and weeding was carried out by many volunteers. Volunteers are always welcome and encouraged for future projects, to help achieve some of the larger labour intensive jobs. The Committee too all have different strengths and as a Team drive projects forward.

The Committee hope that at some point next year after we are able to get back to ‘normal’, the whole Village will be able to again use the Hall by supporting events or activities. We are so fortunate thanks to previous Committees and volunteers to have without doubt the best Community Hall in the area.

Projects Completed this year include:

• The Car Park
• The Defibrillator
• The Christmas Fayre
• Staying Open!

Charlie Oakhill. Chairman

Perseverance and Persistence Pays

It just shows that persistence does pay! – Stinchcombe had the most successful and enjoyable Crafts Fayre on 5th December.  Even though we had to change the date and replace some of the stallholders, the sun shone and people really enjoyed a chance to do some Christmas shopping and to meet up with friends and neighbours at our Covid-safe Village Hall. 

Thanks to all who came, and all who helped with the preparations, clearance and supporting me in carrying it through in such a difficult year. 

Looking forward to next year

Next year will even bigger and better with even more stalls planned – and, watch this space for further events at the Village Hall.

Margaret Wannell

A Film of the Day

Mike Henton produced a video for everyone to enjoy the day.

Slow! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas from the Speed Watch Group

The Stinchcombe Community Speed Watch Group is up and running (or should that be slow jogging) with speed monitoring points on Taits Hill Rd and The Street. 

Please email speedwatch@stinchcombepc.co.uk to request monitoring at other locations.  As long as we can agree a safe site with the Police we will include them in next year’s programme.    

Stay safe over the festive period.

Kath

A fascinating read

I read a long article on the BBC website this week on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. How it came into being and how quick it was off the mark. The problems encountered to find funding. The false stories put about on social media and what impact this had. And finally the problems with production and testing.

Written by Fergus Walsh, the BBC’s Medical editor I recommend the article for anyone who would like to get an insight of what it is like to try and develop what could still be the worlds number#1 vaccine next year for the Coronavirus pandemic.

The article is titled Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine: Bogus reports, accidental finds – the story of the jab

Our own Great Migration

If you think that jaw dropping Wildlife is only to be found overseas, in Stinchcombe we are blessed with our own Great Migration – the annual return of amphibians to their ancestral ponds.  On warm(ish) wet nights in early spring, hundreds of toads (and some frogs and newts) make their way across fields, hedges, ditches, woods to the ponds where they spawned to mate.  We probably wouldn’t know it was happening if it wasn’t for something else they have to cross: the roads.  If you’re driving down around St Cyr’s at the right time, it is very much the wrong time- the lanes are littered with the little creatures and it is nigh on impossible not to squash them.  Unless of course, some kind humans help them.

Toad Patrol

For quite a few years now, Stinchcombe has been blessed with a strong team of volunteer Toad Patrollers who keep a weather eye on the lanes and are ready to grab raincoats and buckets to collect up the toads on the roads.  It is now time to put together the team for 2021.  It’s an interesting way to spend a February early evening – enjoying the full moon, the stars, owls, badgers, foxes, mice as well as the various amphibians on our patch, and social distancing is so easy!

Gloucestershire Toads On Roads

Tramping up and down the lane on cold, damp nights is not for everyone and there is no guarantee that you will see a toad but there are other ways to help out; investigating sightings, putting up posters etc.  If you would like to help out this year, please let me know.  Even better, sign up to Gloucestershire Toads On Roads – GlosTOR- a county organisation linked to the national Amphibian Charity Froglife.  They coordinate all the toad crossings in our county and provide guidance as well as feeding our results into the national database for important conservation work.  You can sign up to GlosTor here: 2021 GlosTor Signup Form.  If you have signed up before, please do so again- they don’t reuse contact details from previous years. 

We are in Stroud District and our crossing is Stinchcombe Church Road.  They will then put you in touch with me as Patrol Manager (one of my favourite descriptions) and I’ll be in touch with more information.

Jayne K.