Well done! Keep up the pressure. (There are even some people in the House, for once)
Category: News
News and events in the Horsington area
Somerset Arts Weeks – see before it’s too late
If you have ever wondered what goes on at the village hall on Fridays – get down to the White Horse, South Cheriton, for the Horsington Group of Artists exhibition in the pub’s skittle alley.
But hurry! There are only 5 days left. The exhibition closes on Sunday 18th October.
The exhibition is open daily from 11 am -6 pm. Tea and coffee always available.
The artwork on display has great variety and shows some real talent by local artists.
There is exciting new sculpture by Sophie Bartlett, delicate ceramics by Emma Riley and interesting paintings in various media, some inspired by the theme, Momentum, by members of groups who meet weekly in St Margaret’s Hall, Horsington: Shirley Atkins, Elizabeth Birch, Alison Clements, Marie De’Ath, Marion Hammond, Jennifer Haywood, Jane Hooper, Amanda Keyte, Anne Openshaw, Kath Prins, Toni Salmonson, Joanna Snow, Frances Still, Rhonwen Tatchell and Gillian Waddington.
Works are for sale at reasonable prices.
Postcode for the satnav: BA80BL
The exhibition is part of Somerset Arts Weeks, which features over 350 artists in 116 venues right across the county.
Another venue is a Horwood Farm on the Wincanton-Buckhorn Weston Road. Local artist Fay Hutchcroft has shared her large studio with 7 other artists to produce a stunning display of installation art, paintings, prints drawings and textiles. Those exhibiting are Fay Hutchcroft, Patricia Gould, Lesley Featherstone, Liz Clay, Juliet Duckworth, Jane Manning, Alessandra Alexandroff, and Sarah Edgeley.
Postcode for the satnav: BA99RA
Also open from 11 am until 6pm.
Get out more!
Horsington Group of Artists welcomes new members. It meets on Fridays at the village hall. Contact Gill Elson 370236 or Toni Salmonson on 370235
Wincanton carnival makes a low key return
It’s carnival time. Wincanton Carnival will flow down the High Street on Friday night, starting at 7.30 pm, its first outing for 6 years.
Look out for road closures.
We hope theBlog’s readers will turn up and support the effort to put some life back In to Wincanton.
Curiously, there is nothing in the Blackmore Vale Magazine or on the Wincanton Window about the carnival. The only mention we could find on the web is on the Breeze website, which lists the event, but peversley gives a map of Basingstoke as the venue!
Winterborne Longjohns prepares for the racing season. . .
. . . by offering wine advice! Our intrepid (and exclusive) racing correspondent has been exploring wine shops in the Cherbourg area. He writes . .
As our sainted editor has recently reported WINTERBORNE LONGJOHNS has spent a mostly very quiet summer not ruinously but nevertheless expensively following the mixed advice of his old comrade in adversity SWINLEY BOTTOM and to a lesser extent the Hugo Palmer stable.
It is true that some slight measure of consolation has come from an all too brief foray to Normandy, good reading and a certain amount of judicious and mostly inexpensive wines purchased from supermarkets and the excellent cross channel selection of MAISON GOSSELIN of St Vaast la Hogue. Indeed it is with this in mind that Winterborne has decided to guide his readers , if indeed any exist, {Do we detect a certain sense of crisis here ?}, with some well chosen recommendations for pre-Christmas supermarket wines whose purchase might be usefully funded by his usual mostly successful jump racing tips. Expect more to follow to follow over the coming weeks.
Can’t wait , Winterborne, but make sure your tips are with us in time for publication before the Wincanton race meeting on Friday -Ed
David Warburton responds on super fast Broadband issue
David Warburton MP, has responded to Penny Nagle’s letter about the priorities for super fast broadband installation in Horsington.
“Thank you very much for this Penny – I absolutely agree with what you say about the importance of considering business and educational need as key criteria in the roll-out – and I’ll be attending the debate on rural broadband in Parliament on Monday to do what I can to keep the pressure on.
Facebook users – It’s International Book Week
If you’re a Facebook user:
It’s International Book Week. The rules: grab the closest book to you, turn to page 52, and post the fifth sentence as your status. Don’t mention the title, and copy the rules to your status.
You can get the Horsington Blog on FaceBook. Just sign up here:
https://www.facebook.com/horsingtonblog?fref=nf
“They’re off” on Friday 16th!
The Blog’s editorial team are getting excited about the start of this season’s national Hunt Racing at Wincanton on Friday 16th October.
Our racing correspondent Winterborne Longjohns is surely sharpening his pen and his wits to bring you the very best racing information as we write this. (He has been very quiet during the summer.)
Every year optimism triumphs over experience. Modest sums are lodged with Paddy Power and William Hill, and we convince ourselves against all the odds that that Messrs Tizzard, Nicholls, Hobbs and Fry can land that elusive 25,000-1 Yankee.
Watching the racing at the course is great fun. There is a band of regulars who are very welcoming, and there are many local people there.
It costs £20 for a Premier enclosure ticket on the gate, but you can save a fiver by booking in advance at http://wincanton.thejockeyclub.co.uk/events-tickets/whats-on/under-starters-orders.
Or you can pay £23 in advance and get a “Premium Punters ticket”, which provides entrance, a race card with Timeform ratings, a pint of lager or a glass of wine and a £5.00 food voucher. Great value, since the extras alone will set you back about £12 if you bought them separately.
There are further race meetings on October 25th and November 7th.
See you there.
Tim Inglefield responds to the super fast broadband story
Tim Inglefield, South Somerset District Councillor writes
I noted the comment from Penny Nagle, and to reply, as one of your local District Councillors, you are quite right to complain. AND its not just Horsington and its environs that concern me its the whole rural economy that needs much better communications to encourage and enhance the local and rural business economy.
We are battling with BT, particularly over the tendering process and in my view their incessant and needless focus on Non Disclosure Agreements, which have slowed down the whole process. SSDC has cash to help smooth this through but really we need to hear some economic sense from BT to really give this process a boost.
I will continue to keep am eye on this and please be assured that from my position I will be applying whatever pressure I can to support Penny’s aims.
Regards,
Tim Inglefield (Cllr)
Superfast Broadband is here -for some
Penny Nagle, who lives on Horsington Marsh writes
Apparently super fast broadband is accessible now in the centre of Horsington village. Check here for your postcode : –
http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/default.aspx?pc=ba8
For the rest of us who are more than 1km from the box at the bottom of Stowell Lane things are not moving at all and it looks like they won’t for at least 18 months (from the website).
So I have drafted a letter to Kim Mears, Managing Director, Infrastructure Delivery, at Openreach.
We have 50 names on the list, Horsington School, five businesses and four farms asking for super fast broadband.
The main argument is that Openreach should not be considering population density for rollout in rural areas, but rather educational and business needs.
I have also copied in our local MP David Warburton, our District Councillor Tim Inglefield, Connecting Devon and Somerset, and our local Federation of Small Businesses contact person.
Blog readers can help by letting me me know if there is anyone else who can put their name to this list, particularly businesses and farms. I plan sending this very soon!
Thank you for your help so far! ~
Penny Nagle
pennynagle@gmail.com
Penny’s Letter to OpenReach:
If you would be happy to add your own name to this, plus your business if you have one, please contact Penny.
Dear Ms Mears,
Re : Super Fast Broadband Delivery – Horsington Village, Somerset – more than 1km from the Openreach box.
We write because we are the residents, school and businesses of Horsington Village more than 1km from the Openreach box and unable to access superfast broadband.
We are concerned because we can see from your website, and that of Connecting Devon and Somerset, that we seem to be more than 18 months away from a solution to our poor internet access.
Your website says that you are “exploring solutions” possibly by working in partnership with South Somerset or by delivering it as part of your commercial programme. This is not good enough. It feels to us that you are assessing where to install on the basis of population density rather than the educational and business needs of our community.
These needs should be placed ahead of people wanting to stream films.
We currently number 36 households (about 50 names), the village school, five businesses, and four farms which could be working much harder for UK plc if we had better access to the internet. We count to five every time a web page loads up, and there is no question of us using any video. This severely restricts our business and educational processes.
We would like superfast broadband installed sooner than you currently have planned in this area. We look forward to hearing from you how you plan to do this here in Horsington.
Yours sincerely,
(50+ signatures)
October Diary (Updated)
Regular activities (Village Hall unless stated).
Mondays Pilates 6pm
Tuesdays Upholstery 10.30 am , Badminton 8pm,
Wednesdays Adult tap dancing 10am
Thursdays Art 10.00
Fridays Art 10.00
Other Events
Thurs 1st W.I. A glimpse at the Galapagos by Mike Spencer Village Hall 7.30pm
Sat 3rd- Sun 18th The Horsington Group of Artists Somerset Arts Week Exhibition in the Skittle Alley at The White Horse, South Cheriton. More . . .
Mon 5th Ladies lunch Group Fox and Hounds, East Knoyle
Wed 7th Music Night Half Moon Inn 8.30pm
Thurs 8th Parish Council Meeting Village Hall 7.30pm
Sat 10th Benefice Harvest Supper Village Hall 7.30pm. More . .
Tues 13th Horsington Pins and Needles. Springfield 2.00pm
Tues 13th North Cheriton Gardener’s Society N.C Village Hall 7.30pm
Wed 14th Film: Interstellar King Arthur’s School 7.30pm
Fri 16th Wincanton Races – First meeting of 2015 Autumn/Winter season. More. . .
Fri 23rd Horsington Open: Charity Golf Day Henstridge Golf Club More. . .
Sun 25th Wincanton Races -Southern Spinal Injuries Trust Charity Day
St John’s Church services
4th October 9.15am Holy Communion with Sunday School
11th October 11 am Morning Prayer
18th October 9.15am Holy Communion
25th October 8.30am Holy Communion (BCP)