THE BARD’S BIRTHDAY AND OTHER STORIES

Blewbury’s new Shakespeare group is going from strength to strength! There are now over 50 members on the mailing list, and we already have two ‘Shakespeare for Beginners’ sessions under our belt. By the time you read this, we will have celebrated the great man’s birthday at a sack-fuelled party, and at our next event (date tbc) our very own professional actor/director Catie Flye, will be conduct a mini-masterclass focusing on Act 2 Scene 2 of Twelfth Night, and in particular the ‘ring’ speech spoken by Viola at the end of that scene. Catie will show how a couple of dozen lines can advance the plot, build the character and develop some of the themes of the play. She will also share some ‘tricks of the trade’ that can be deployed to engage the audience and maximise the impact of Shakespeare’s words. I have no doubt that this will be a great introduction to the art of staging these 400-year-old plays, as well as an ideal ‘teaser’ to Twelfth Night itself, which we can then develop by watching the Trevor Nunn film and perhaps conducting our own group reading of the play in the near future.

Looking further forward, we are in talks with a world-renowned Shakespeare scholar to give a talk to the group sometime in the autumn, and just under 30 of us are booked in for a group outing in September to see the RSC’s Pericles at Stratford. If any of this is of interest and you’re not already on the mailing list, please email me at shakescene(at)mac.com and I will add you to the group – no obligation and no subscription fees!  Chris Whatmore

DIY for beginners: Our enthusiastic DIY Beginners now know where to turn off the water when household appliances spring a leak or water starts appearing where it shouldn’t. They can also fix a dripping tap and unblock a sink, toilet or drain, so if you have any of these problems ask someone who’s been to a BlewShed DIY for Beginners evening recently. Our next course module will be announced soon so keep an eye on BlewShed News. For DIY-ers who missed drilling and fixing, or saws and cutting last year, we will repeat these later this year. In our next DIY workshops we will focus on helping beginners with their individual projects using the techniques they have learned.

Community Projects:  Dick Street is putting the finishing touches to Blewbury Cricket Club’s mower and filling the gear boxes with oil after his thorough restoration of this venerable machine over the past six months. Dick has earned the admiration of all BlewShed members and visitors to the Shed with his dedication and skill in this challenging task – a real work of engineering art. Blewbury Cricket Club will be able to keep their pitch mown again for this and future seasons. Work will now begin on restoring the old and rickety Tickers Folly Field park bench.

BlewShed products: Garden trugs, garden trays, boot removers and a smaller version of our popular full-sized trug as well as a wood-turned cake stand went on sale at Savages for Easter and will also be available at the village garden produce stall.

Meetings: Members who turned up for April’s club night sharpened their woodturning skills with the skew chisel. This versatile tool can do virtually any spindle turning shape or detail and its correct use can save a lot of sandpaper! For anyone who missed this session one of the BlewShed woodturners can show you how.

Next BlewShed club night will be Tuesday 14th May, 7.30pm in the bar of the Blueberry where we will have a social evening to discuss future projects. All welcome.

BlewShed opening times and membership: Tuesday, Friday and Saturday afternoons 1.30-4.00 pm and Thursday afternoons 2.00-4pm for electronics, non-dusty work and a chat.

BlewShed annual membership subs are £25 for individuals, or £37.50 for a family. This includes expert advice from members and use of a very well-equipped metal-working, woodworking and electronics workshop.

Aims: BlewShed is here to help members and DIY course attendees learn various woodwork, metal-work and other practical techniques, so come along and acquire some new skills, or just have cuppa and chat.

Everyone is welcome to club night meetings on the second Tuesday of the month. We look forward to seeing you.

Mike Wrottesley, BlewShed secretary      https://blewshed.home.blog/news/

Wednesday 22 May is our regular monthly meeting 7.30 pm in the Vale Room.

We will hear about “The Oxford of Inspector Morse”.  Alistair Lack is a Green Badge Guide for Oxford and the University and will tell us about the famous TV series of Morse including Lewis and Endeavour. The talk covers the importance of Colin Dexter, who wrote the Morse books, plus information about the Morse actors, John Thaw and Kevin Whately. (A bit of trivia – Colin Dexter used to live in Blewbury – some WI ladies remember him – a ‘real gent’ they say and his wife was also very friendly!)

Come as a visitor in May – no commitment – see if you fancy it.  If you’d like to join any of the regular events listed below contact our Secretary Joy, on 850543 or email blewburywi(at)gmail.com.

Calendar of events

New members and supporters welcome

As we (hopefully) start to bid adieu to a long, wet winter and the daffodils start swaying in the spring breeze, attention drifts to warmer months and the bucolic sound of leather on willow. Blewbury Cricket Club is always looking for new members and passionate supporters. We market ourselves as a club for all ages and abilities with everyone welcome.

Since Covid lockdown where outdoor sports were permitted, we have seen somewhat of a renaissance of cricket in the village. We are a club of about 50 members with fixtures taking place from mid-May to the end of August. We tend to host three different types of matches throughout the season. Midweek games are generally 20 overs and played against local opposition or indeed scratch teams. They start at 6pm and are normally finished by 9pm; they tend to take place on Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday and Thursdays. On Fridays we have an interclub turn-up-and-play match with two teams (The Badgers and The Roosters) playing a T20 against each other. These are fun for all the family with a well stocked bar and non-cricketers watching or indeed playing around the outfield. Finally we hold a few Sunday 40-over games against local opposition for those who like to take their cricket slightly more seriously. There is a pay bar at the ground and changing/toilet facilities. Thanks to the invaluable support of BlewShed we have had our gang mowers serviced which will no doubt improve the quality of the outfield. In addition this season a local team called The Berkshire Royals will be using our pitch every Saturday and may well be looking for some eager cricketers to play for one of their teams. If you are interested in becoming a member or indeed just simply coming up to watch, contact details for some of the committee members are below as are the links to join the club WhatsApp group and the new club website (thanks to Adam Stockley). Fixtures will appear on the club website and WhatsApp group shortly. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Parish Council for their ongoing support of the cricket club.

Contact details: Rob Southwell-Sander (Club Captain) rsouthwellsander(at)yahoo.co.uk; Ian Bacon (Chairman) ian.bacon(at)blewburton.com; James Barratt (Secretary) james(at)ashbrooklets.co.uk; Club website: https://www.blewburycricketclub.co.uk/; Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Ini9dXhahm48Gb0Z8LRLgS

Wednesday 24 April is our regular monthly meeting 7.30 pm in the Vale Room. We will hear about “A day on the life of a Metropolitan Police crime scene investigator”. The television abounds with dramas involving ‘Crime Scene Investigations’ – have you ever wondered about what this actually entails?  Discover what happens behind the crime scene tape and learn about the science involved as Hayley Scott tells us about forensics, DNA and fingerprints.

A fresh new committee will be launching after our Annual meeting on 27 March, when we hope to welcome new committee members. Being a member in Blewbury WI gives you so many opportunities to get out and about and make new friends. Being on the committee is very rewarding and you get a chance to have a say on what we’d like to get up to… Do you remember when Blewbury WI did our very own ‘Calendar Girls’ calendar? Just ask – you might get a peek at that historic document!

Come as a visitor in April – no commitment – see if you fancy it.  If you’d like to join any of the regular events listed below contact our Secretary Joy, on 850543 or email blewburywi@gmail.com.

Calendar of events

DIY for beginners: We look forward to welcoming back our DIY beginners for their third session on 26th and 28th March, when they will find out how to tackle simple DIY home plumbing jobs. There are still a few places available, and the sessions are open to anyone. although priority will be given to those who have attended before.

Community Projects:  Thanks to the tireless work of Dick Street and his team throughout the winter and early spring the cricket club mower refurbishment is almost complete. We expect a test run will be possible very soon.

BlewShed products: Some garden trugs and wood-turned cake stands will be reappearing on sale at Savages and are ready to go on sale at the village garden produce stall when it re-opens for the new season. New items this year will be bat boxes, garden trays , boot removers and a mini version of our popular full-sized trug.

Meetings: A full house of members with tools to sharpen came to BlewShed’s evening of grinding and sharpening techniques, ranging from the humble whetstone for gardening implements to a state of the art, hi-tech, plane iron sharpening system demonstrated by Mike Magnay. Members went away with their favourite chisels in good working order again and BlewShed’s set of set chisels is re-sharpened, ready for use.

April’s meeting will feature a hands-on session on woodturning, helping attendees to become adept with that most versatile turning tool, the skew chisel. Date: Tuesday 9th April, 7.30pm. All welcome, you don’t need to be a member – come and have a go at turning some spindles. You’ll get plenty of guidance.

Donation: A big thank you to Shirley Smith for donating many of her late husband Ron’s tools to BlewShed. Ron was a member of Didcot Woodturners and would have been pleased to see his tools put to good use again.

BlewShed opening times and membership: Tuesday and Saturday afternoons 1.30-4.00 pm and Thursday afternoons 2.00-4pm for electronics sessions, non-dusty work and a chat. Friday afternoons by arrangement.

BlewShed annual individual membership subs are £25, or £37.50 for a family, which includes expert advice from members and use of a well-equipped metal, woodworking and electronic workshop.

Aims: BlewShed is there to help members learn various woodwork, metalwork and other practical techniques, so come along and acquire some new skills, or just have cuppa and chat.

Everyone is welcome to club night meetings on the second Tuesday of the month. We look forward to seeing you.

Mike Wrottesley, BlewShed secretary  https://blewshed.home.blog/news/