The Parish Magazine

June '25

BERWICK ST JAMES

CONGRATULATIONS to James and Johanna Hardy (and Thilo) on the birth of Jasper.

Also CONGRATULATIONS to Abby and Jack Mynott (and George) on the birth of Flora.

And CONGRATULATIONS to Ned Humphreys on his engagement to Sophie Bunting from Somerset.

GOODBYE, GOOD LUCK and much happiness to Hayley Burrey. Hayley threw herself into village life throughout the 7 years she lived here, and worked hard for the village especially during Covid. She will be much missed (we look forward to seeing her at book club).

CHURCH NEWS

I wrote May’s contribution before Easter weekend and predicted the church would look beautiful with all the flower decorations for our Easter service.

The prediction was correct – it did!

At the time of writing, June looks to be relatively straightforward with two scheduled services, a Holy Communion on 1st June at 9.30am and a Matins service on 15th June at 11.00am.

My sincere thanks to Stephen Bush and his happy helpers, Benjie and Rollo Faulkener, for putting out the Union Jack bunting on the church railings for the VE80 celebrations.

READING ROOM AGM

The Reading Room AGM will be on Wednesday June 18th at 7pm. Please come along and hear about your village room, everyone is very welcome. There will be wine! (and soft drinks).

BERWICK ST JAMES VILLAGE MEETING AGM

The BsJ Village Meeting AGM will be held on 29th May, 7pm at the Reading Room. All villagers welcome. Julian Glyn-Owen is planning to step down as Chair. If you are interested in becoming Chair, please contact him through WhatsApp. If you wish to put yourself forward for any position you are very welcome; please come forward before our meeting. We look forward to welcoming all, having a productive and lively meeting and enjoying a glass of wine at the close.

On closures, THE B3083 IS NOW CLOSED OVER THE RIVER TILL for the bridge repairs. These are due to take up to eight weeks from 12th May. A temporary footbridge will enable pedestrians to cross the river. Public road access is only via the A303 any accident on the A303 at the B3083 turning to BsJ, could potentially block us in, or worse, prevent emergency services accessing the village. Police have been notified, and emergency services should have a routing plan. Whilst the bridge is shut can we encourage local support for both The Old Forge Farm Shop & Café and The Boot Inn. Please also, where practical, offer car lifts to those who normally rely on Salisbury Reds bus services. They do not plan to operate our route during this closure.

BERWICK VILLAGE FAYRE – SATURDAY 7TH JUNE – THE CLOCK HOUSE

FREE ENTRY!

A Village Community Event welcoming nearby Villages to join the fun

START TIMES       ITEMS            £(small change appreciated)

1.00pm -3.00pm  Bar and Grill                  Cash or card

From 1.00pm      The Plant Stall                Cash only

From 1.00pm      Bottle Tombola           Cash only

From 1.00pm       Treasure Hunt             Cash only

1.00pm-3.00pm   Epsom Derby Sweepstake  Cash only

From 1.00pm       Kids Activity Den         Cash only

1.00pm-3.00pm   Closed Auction Bids*  Recorded Bids  

2.00pm               Berwick Horse Racing  Cash only

From 3.00pm      Tea and Cakes             Cash only                     

3.30pm                 Live Auction of Promises*   Recorded Bids

4.30pm               Dog Scurry Trials         Cash only

5.00pm                 Poolside Duck Races    Cash only

[*Funds for Riding for the Disabled]

TEA and CAKE and CHAT in the READING ROOM

Great Chats in May – more in June!  The next  Tea and Chats are on Tuesday June 3rd and Tuesday June 17th,  in the Reading Room from 2.30pm. Everyone very much welcome. ,

PLANT, PRODUCE and FLOWER TABLE supporting C.R.UK

Hello villagers and neighbouring villages

What a dry start to the growing season, it must be a great issue for our farmers, yet alone us gardeners. Having said that our table has got off to a wonderful start with a lovely variety of plants and rhubarb from winterbourne Stoke always an early treat.

We all learn from our mistakes in gardening but I have made the biggest one ever, I put sweet peas in the greenhouse because of night time temperatures forgot about them and frazzled the lot and I mean a lot …start again, silly gardener lol.

Chilli plants are loving the hot greenhouse and coming on fast they will be on the table soon. We have a QR code on the table so no cash no worries.

Don’t forget to put a shallow dish of water our for our hedgehogs and other wildlife please.

I wish you peace happiness and contemplation in your wee bit of garden..

Yours Aye Christine X

THE BERWICK PART OF THIS MAGAZINE.-ENTRIES

Please send to me, Nicky Street The Dairy House 790309, or e-mail [email protected] by 14th of the month before the magazine is due out, indicating it is a magazine entry. Or, if you prefer, directly to the editor (see elsewhere in the magazine). Everything welcome. I’ll submit anything to the editor,  but I don’t check, so please make sure dates etc are right. 

LOCAL HISTORY

With the commemoration of V E Day, and the wonderful articles in last month’s magazine, here is a short piece about Richard Saunderson, the Berwick Villager from World War 2, who is included on the War Memorial in our church. This was in the Parish magazine nearly 20 years ago.

Richard Alexander Saunderson was 26 years old when he died on 11th December 1942 in North Africa. He was a trooper in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, Royal Armoured Corps. He is buried in Benghazi War Cemetery Libya. Benghazi is on the Mediterranean coast of Libya to the east of Tobruk. After the battel of El Alamein in Egypt in November, Rommel and the Afrika Corps retreated east into Libya, on 13th November Tobruk was recaptured by the Allied forces, and by early December the Axis troops were hemmed in Tunisia, after the Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria. I have not been able to find out the role of the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, nor Richard Saunderson’s part in the battles. Perhaps someone knows , and could email me ([email protected]) about it. Richard Saunderson’s parents were Richard and Alice Saunderson who lived in Godwins House (now Goodwins). Written and researched by Nicky Street.

WILDLIFE WATCH

There wasn’t enough room in the last two months magazines for the Wildlife Watch – we had a lot of great reports on birds, butterflies and cowslips.

However, the reports are included in the May Magazine under the “Parish Magazine” part of the Berwick St James Website if you would like to read them there.. 

Birds – in early May in Stapleford, a Little Ringed Plover.  A cuckoo on 25th April in Steeple Langford, Swallows in South Newton and between Berwick and Winterbourne Stoke, the House Martins are back and building their nests under the barge boards. A Mandarin Duck in the river at north end of Berwick – delighted to see this spectacular bird back.

All reports very welcome – from all our villages. Nicky Street [email protected] The Dairy House Berwick St James.

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