Yarnfield Flyer

What a great day it was! Wonderful weather and lots of villagers relaxing and enjoying themselves on the green. All of the proceeds have now been collected, and we have achieved a profit of £2000 which will be allocated shortly. We are indebted to our sponsors and to those who advertised in the programme. We are also indebted to the many villagers and others who generously offered their time and facilities. Finally thank you to everyone for supporting our village fete and making it such a success.

We are very interested in knowing what YOU thought about the event. If you have any ideas we could incorporate into next year's fete or you have suggestions about how we can improve the event please let us know. You can contact Richard Charlwood on 760612 with your ideas.

Planning for next year's fete will start in October 2010. Meetings are usually held in the “Labour in Vain” and anyone interested may come along. It is not an exclusive club! Everyone is welcome! Our intention is to advertise the dates of future fete meetings in the hope that more villagers will be encouraged to attend.

During the summer the Forum was able to donate £180 to the Youth Forum to help them towards next season’s football at Bladerunner.  We wish them a good season.

The garden areas in the cul de sacs of the Furlong are beginning to take shape. We would like to know what the people who live in the vicinity would like to see planted in the areas concerned. In the first cul de sac there is a skeleton of perennial plants which need minimum maintenance. One option is to gradually fill the bed with more perennials for round the year colour. Another option would be to plant spring bulbs for colour early in the year and leave space for bedding plants later in the year. Please let us know which you would prefer. You can contribute your ideas to the website or you can drop a note through the door of Springfield Cottage on Yarnfield Lane next door to the village hall. If you have ideas, wish to contribute plants, or are interested in helping to maintain the areas, we would welcome your interest. In the second cul de sac we would like to purchase two large planters to place either side of the small round bed. Again we would like to hear your ideas.

Thank you to the kind people who have watered the beds when the weather has been dry. We have really appreciated your help

The village entered the competition again this year and obtained a HIGHLY COMMENDED certificate. 16 villages entered the Stafford Borough section of the competition. Apparently competition in this section was very fierce. Although disappointed that we did not do as well as in previous years, many villagers have commented on how good the village looked.

We would like to thank all those people who have contributed by collecting litter and  have helped to keep the village looking so tidy, as well as thanking those who take responsibility for mowing or keeping tidy some of the communal areas which would otherwise be neglected.

We have been delighted that so many organisations have taken part in the competition this year and thank them for their work. Their flowers have transformed the village.  Thank you to all those children at Springfields School who took part in the Poster Competition. In particular we would like to congratulate Rebecca Cooper who was runner up in the 8-11 Section of the Poster Competition. Well done to Rebecca and to the other the children who won prizes in our village poster competition.

 Usually Yarnfield is entered for this competition which is run by Calor Gas. However, this year, Calor Gas will run a £1 million rural energy advisor-ship programme aimed at off-grid rural communities across Britain. It aims to bring residents advice and information to regarding fuel choices  and carbon reduction measures. As Yarnfield is not an off-grid community we cannot take part, although villagers may well benefit from the advice at a future date.

The Forum has arranged with our new village agent, Margaret George, to give some talks on subjects of general interest. Margaret has considerable experience having done this for some years. Some of the initial talks are “tasters” to see if there is sufficient interest to put on longer courses on these subjects. All of these are to be held in the village hall.

Advance notice of these is given below:

Thursday 16^th September at 7.30pm

THE HISTORY OF HERBS from ancient times to the present day. Describing some of the culinary, medicinal, religious and magical uses of herbs in the past and some unusual recipes.. Margaret will bring along a selection of herbs and some herbal books for you to look at.

Thursday 30^th September at 2.00pm

ESSENTIAL OILS AND THEIR USES.

This is a workshop which will demonstrate how to use oils in this rapidly growing popular treatment of common ailments. There will also be an aromatherapy or Indian Head Massage demonstration, if desired.

Thursday 14^th October at 7.30p.m.

SOME ILLUSTRATED HISTORIC VIEWS OF STAFFORDSHIRE including buildings of interest, archaeological sites and hidden gems. The talk will include some details of their individual histories.

Thursday 11^th November at 7.30pm

MAGIC, MYTHS, MYSTERIES AND LEGENDS OF STAFFORDSHIRE.

 An account of some of the wealth of local folk lore and stories of the supernatural.

The three evening talks will last for approximately an hour. After each talk light refreshments will be served. A small charge will  

 be made to cover costs. The afternoon session on 30^th September may be longer than an hour and refreshments will be available during the talk including some herbal teas.

Look out for more details. Margaret has a number of ancestry documents, books, herbs, etc. to illustrate her talks. If there is a demand it may be possible for us to arrange longer courses or more talks on other subjects.

This could be your chance to learn how to square dance! The Blue Diamonds Dancing Club meets each Thursday evening from 8-00pm until 10-30pm. at St. Dominic's Social Club, Stone. The club is seeking to attract new members starting in September. Anyone of any age can square dance... having two left feet is no excuse!

All dancing is at walking pace and all moves are guided by a Caller. Square Dancing is great fun for people of all ages! For more information please call Peter on 01785 760842 or Amy on 01889 50835.

The Forum is grateful to Councillor Henry Butter of Staffordshire County Council who has provided funding towards the cost of an oak seat on the village green. We hope that this will be the first of a number of seats which will enable villagers to sit in comfort on the village green.

The seat is dedicated to the memory of Debbie Harrison who died in August 2008 and who was known to so many villagers.

Tuesday 14^th September 7-8pm Yarnfield Park Training Centre