The latest issue of Strawberry Line Times begins distribution today. Officially out at the beginning of June this will be the 6^th issue of the publication since it began last September – initially as  seasonal magazine then as a bi-monthly and now as a monthly.

In June’s issue the magazine features a story by BBC writer and producer Tony Staveacre about Constance Malleson, the Irish actress and feminist who lived in the village in the 1930s. There’s also a fashion shoot in Blagdon, plus a feature on Banwell’s mysterious rock and stories on how branch lines are reopening. If you’ve not had a copy by June email strawberrylinetimes@hotmail.co.uk

The Yatton and Congresbury Wildlife Action Group (YACWAG) have reported that their tawny owl project had failed. The cold winter and spring appear to be to blame – with the weather conditions also affecting other wild bird populations. The report is as follows:

The warmer weather over the spring bank holiday brought more migrants and in particular reed warblers to the Strawberry Line. Considering the wet summer last year, this is encouraging and quite surprising.

Thanks to members reporting a regular cuckoo at Congresbury. They are pretty scarce now away from very large nature reserves in the south west and a new theory suggests that a lack of food (rather than host species) may be a cause.

Sorry to report that a visit to Littlewood by Chris Sperring MBE revealed that our tawny owls had failed. Chris said that 2013 was not looking a good year for this species. The very cold weather in March and April perhaps reduced prey items as they were trying to breed.

Just a single swift reported over Yatton, but a small group over Clevedon but Siskins still visiting gardens.

For more on YACWAG visit http://yacwag.org.uk/

Tessa Munt MP joined forty job seekers at Strode College in Street last week as they graduated from Strode’s retail skills and customer service training and earned themselves a job interview with Waitrose.

A new Waitrose store will open in Wells in July and, with a staff of 140, the store will create many new jobs for local people.  All those who successfully completed the training at Strode are guaranteed an interview with Waitrose.

Strode College teamed up with Wells Job Centre and Waitrose to plan and develop the joint scheme designed to get job seekers into work.  As well as successfully training forty job seekers, the College will host pre-employment days, open days and activity days.

Strode’s involvement in this project is part of their on-going support for unemployed people. They work with the jobcentre on a daily basis and visit each week giving individual interviews and guidance to people who are unemployed.

Shirley Theedom, Deputy Principle at Strode College, said: “This has been a fantastic partnership and a great example of how Strode works with the Job Centre and local employers to train people in skills they need to gain employment.  Over the past few years Strode has trained many adults in retail and customer service skills and we have become renowned for our work with people who are unemployed.  We are delighted to have helped make such a difference to all those who trained with us and wish them well in their job interviews in the coming weeks.”

Tessa Munt MP for Wells and Street joined the graduation ceremony to celebrate the students’ successes.  She said: “I had a brilliant day at Strode College and a huge amount of fun.  I welcome this innovative project to help local unemployed people back into work and I congratulate the graduates. Strode really is an inspirational learning centre which I’m proud to have in my patch and I commend all the staff and students there.”

Dear Strawberry Line Times

The Winscombe and Sandford village website  celebrated its first birthday on the first day of May.

During its first year we have added more features, more web pages for local groups, and we plan to continue expanding to meet the needs of our local community.

We offer you free publicity, free advertisement, the all-important calendar of village events, village news and views, and more.

Please can we ask you to make sure that you have added the village website, www.winscombeandsandford.org.uk, and the contact address, contact@winscombeandsandford.org.uk to your contacts?

Please keep sending in the dates of your events, meetings, special news, news about awards you have been given, and of course any photos.  The website is for everyone in Winscombe and Sandford to freely use and visit.  If you have your own website, we will be pleased to link with this to increase your visitors.

Your ideas on new features for the website are always welcome.

We hope that you have enjoyed visiting the website over the last year.  We think you have, as our hits per month are now up to over a thousand.

With best wishes,

The Winscombe and Sandford website volunteer team.

Work under way at the quay. Pic BBC

Work to rebuild a collapsed river wall in Bridgwater is expected to finish in less than three weeks and complete an 18-month award-winning effort.

The outside face is being restored with original stone, a new drainage system behind the wall is being installed and the next steps towards pedestrianisation of the West Quay area are likely to follow shortly after completion.

The project team of County Council engineers and contractors Crestmoor Construction expect to finish at West Quay on June 6, assuming bad weather does not hinder them again.

During the project they have also strengthened four other sections of the old harbour wall.

Cabinet Member responsible for Highways, Harvey Siggs, said: “I’m so pleased that full reconstruction of the West Quay wall is nearly complete after 18 months beset by bad weather and all the challenges of working in a tidal river.

“The Council’s engineers and Crestmoor Construction have stuck to their task brilliantly when faced with the sort of problems which would overwhelm most people.

“These next few weeks are hopefully a last chance to see some exceptional work in extraordinary circumstances before the old coping stones and railings are finally put back.”

The project team has been juggling the demands of working on the wall with those of engineers across the country wanting to learn more about the methods used in Bridgwater.

Three lectures have been given in the last few weeks, more dates are being scheduled and engineering publications have featured the work extensively throughout construction.

It has already won the national 2012 Fleming Award for geo-engineering excellence, which recognised the innovative design and construction and saved a lot of time and money compared to traditional techniques.

Crestmoor also helped the Council repair the historic Tarr Steps bridge in February, which was also damaged during the winter floods.

Send in you events on strawberrylinetimes@hotmail.co.uk and we will list them free.

Sat 25-Mon 27 May. Cranmore. Days Out with Thomas. East Somerset Railway. Family ticket £52. “Sir Topham Hatt, the Fat Controller” will keep Thomas in order. Thomas says he always enjoys his time at the East Somerset Railway and he will be up to his usual tricks this year and is looking forward to meeting you on the platform. http://www.eastsomersetrailway.com/

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Sat 25 May. Weston-super-Mare. Concert and dance show. Weston Youth Orchestra combine with musicians and dancers from South Africa for the show. 5pm, at the Boulevard United Reformed Church, Weston-super-Mare. www.westonyouthorchestra.org.uk; 07787 520230, mail@westonyouthorchestra.org.uk

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Sat 25 May. Weston. Abba Reunion will be at the Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare, on Saturday 25 May, at 7.30pm. Tickets priced £17, £15.50 concessions are available on 01934 645 544 or online at www.theplayhouse.co.uk.

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Sat 25 May. Winscombe. English wine event at the Wine Tasting Shop near the library. The village’s wine shop have three fantastic wine producers from Somerset coming to the shop for the day giving you the opportunity to taste their wine, chat with them about growing vines in the South West, the ups and downs and the passion and love behind what they do. The producers are; Iain from Oatley Vineyard, nr Cannington; Guy and Laura from Simth and Evans in Aller, Langport; Ingrid from Dunleavy in Wrington. 10.00am – 3.00pm. No need to book just pop in or visit http://www.thewinetastingco.com/  Tel: 01934 708 312; 21 Woodborough Rd, Winscombe BS25 1AB.

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Sat 25 May (25-26May). Axbridge. King John’s Hunting Lodge and Museum. Open 1-4pm during the season. The Square, Axbridge, BS26 2AP. Telephone: 01934 732012. Email: kingjohns@nationaltrust.org.uk. This early Tudor timber-framed wool merchant’s house (circa 1500) provides a fascinating insight into local history. Its strong medieval character is enhanced by the appearance of arcaded stalls opening onto the street on the ground floor (recreated by the National Trust during the building’s restoration). King John’s Hunting lodge is run as a local history museum by Axbridge and District Museum Trust. There is a small entrance charge of £2.50 per person for all adults including National Trust members. Open in the morning of the farmers’ market held on the first Saturday of the month.

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Sat 25 May (25-26May).  Sandford. Sandford Station Heritage Centre open. Website: http://sandfordstation.co.uk/ The Sandford Station Railway Heritage Centre is accessed from the Strawberry Line footpath and National Cycle network route 26 that follows the disused railway path. The Heritage Centre is located off Station Road, Sandford, BS25 5AA. Free during the season at the weekends.

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Sat 25 May (25-26 May).  Westonzoyland. Westonzoyland Pumping Station – In Steam. Find out about the drainage of The Levels at Somerset’s first steam powered pumping station, now a Grade II* listed building (c1831). Largest collection of working steam engines and pumps in the South of England including the 1861 Easton Amos land drainage machine. Smithy, 2’ narrow gauge railway and many unusual items of interest.  Tearoom and bookshop, free parking. 1-5pm. Adult £5, Senior £4, Child £2.50, Family £13. Dogs welcome on lead. Open Sunday afternoons all year. Westonzoyland, Nr Bridgwater, TA7 OLS; www.wzlet.org; 01275 472385.

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Sat 25 May. (25 May-8 June Tues, Thurs, Sat only) Sidcot. Art exhibition: Jed R Franklin. The show is at Sidcot School in the community art centre until Sat 8 June. Jed R Franklin is a young contemporary painter and works with the influences of fashion, glamour and style, specialising in portraiture and figurative based studies. He uses a variety of mediums to create bespoke and individual compositions. His work is evocative of 60s fashion photography, inspired by David Bailey and the work of pop artists James Rosenquist and Richard Prince. He also draws on the urban art scene, in particular the use of stencil and aerosol graffiti. Jed grew up and studied art in Bristol, gaining his BA in Fine Art in 2005, when he focused on large scale portrait paintings in different mediums. He has exhibited widely in and around the Bristol area including the RWA. Open 10.00am – 4.00pm Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday during the exhibition Admission: FREE.

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Sat 25 May. Taunton. Museum open day. See an artist, blacksmith and sculptor at work next weekend (Sat 25 May) as part of a free family fun day at the Museum of Somerset. From 11am to 4pm artists involved with the museum’s current exhibition, ‘Earth Air Fire Water’, will demonstrate their crafts to families. Somerset County Council Deputy Leader Councillor David Hall, who is responsible for culture, heritage and tourism said: “This is the first time such a group of artists has been brought together in one exhibition. “Although rooted in Somerset, several of the artists are rarely seen in Somerset, and many of them have international reputations.” Blacksmith Jim Horrobin will be at work in the courtyard and sculptor Nick Durnan will be carving stone, and charcoal artist Kate Lynch at work in the gallery. The artists will also show items from their personal collections including books, photographs and samples of their work. There will be hands-on activities for all the family, including making a balloon-powered vehicle and creating a magnifying glass from a drop of water. The ‘Earth Air Fire Water’ exhibition, which opened in March, is a showcase of original work from 16 top Somerset artists and includes ceramics, paintings, sculpture and photographs. It runs until 6 July. For further information please call 01823 255088, email museumofsomerset@somerset.gov.uk or visit The Museum of Somerset, Taunton Castle, Castle Green, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 4AA.

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Sun 26 May. Banwell. Caves open. 10.30am to 4.30 pm.  Filled Rolls, cream Teas and Cakes. The Bone Cave is a large cavern about 40ft in diameter and about 20ft tall. The floor was partially excavated to reveal hundreds of animal bones which were neatly stacked at the sides of the cave where they remain to this day. The animal bones discovered include bison, reindeer, cave bear and wolf. Some specimens have been removed and can be seen in Taunton Museum and these include a complete bear’s skull and reindeer antler. It has been the subject of many theories why so many animal bones should be found in one place. It is now accepted that the bones were washed into the cave in the Ice Age about 80,000 years ago.
In the 1950’s a keen local caver, Percy Baker, in conjunction with Axbridge Caving Group, discovered another chamber off the side of the main chamber called the Ruby Chamber because of its ruby coloured walls. Beyond the house is a deep cave called the Stalactite Cave which extends to a depth of 200ft. Once open to visitors, it can now only be accessed by cavers. After passing through two large chambers with many loose boulders the visitor is led to a green lake of pure water.

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Sun 26 May. Yatton. Car Boot Sale and BBQ in aid of the Strawberry Line Cafe. Station Car Park 9am – 1pm. Come along to our next fundraising event- grab a bargain or set up stall  and make a few quid. The Cafe will be open for breakfasts, lunches and  coffee & cake. Pitches are £5, no booking required, 9am – 1pm http://www.strawberrylinecafe.co.uk/2013/05/boot-sale-1st-april-station-car-park/

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Mon 27 May. Congresbury. Picnic on the Green. 1.30pm. Congresbury Youth Partnership event. Millennium Green. Family fun with activities and games all afternoon. Details from Diana Hassan on 01934 876454 or email diana@rookery-farm.com

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27 May. Open Day. Sandford Station retirement village. Show home open 10-4. Call 0117 949 4004 for further information

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Mon 27 May-1 June. North Somerset. Drama: Savage Children.

The Theatre Orchard present a Bristol Old Vic, the egg, Bath, Dukes Playhouse and Theatr lolo production

SAVAGE CHILDREN
Wild Girl & Mirad Boy from Bosnia

TOURING NORTH SOMERSET 27 MAY – 1 JUNE 2013
Wild Girl – written and directed by John Retallack
Mirad Boy From Bosnia – written by Ade de Bont and directed by John Retallack
Music by Lizzie Westcott
Performed by Géhane Strehler, Dean Rehman

Following their hugely successful 2012 tour of I, Peaseblossom and I, Caliban, The Theatre Orchard joins forces with Bristol Old Vic once again to present a North Somerset rural tour of Savage Children, a powerful double bill of compelling plays that combine vivid storytelling, physical theatre, music and dance for young people aged 8+ and their families.

Directed and written by Bristol Old Vic’s Outreach Director John Retallack, Wild Girl follows the story of a ten-year-old feral girl who was discovered on the country estate of a Count and Countess in mid-18th century France.
A Wild Girl appears from the woods. Who is she? Who will decide what is best for her? Wild Girl is about what a child might do if she had the choice.

Mirad, Boy from Bosnia written by Ad de Bont, is set in the savage Bosnian civil war and tells the story a young boy’s survival despite the loss of his parents. Mirad, Boy from Bosnia is a unique play in its searing portrayal of the impact of war on children presented in an accessible and touching way.

Double bills of Savage Children will be performed at Long Ashton Village Hall and Nailsea Tithe Barn. Single performances of Wild Girl will be presented in the grounds of some of Somerset’s most picturesque locations including Wrington Walled Garden (with a Wild Supper included as part of the ticket deal catered by The Ethicurean), Yeo Valley Organic Garden and Leigh Woods.
There will be post-play sessions offered at Pill Community Orchard and Tyntesfield, where audiences are invited to stay, play, talk and draw with some of the actors involved in the production.

The Theatre Orchard is North Somerset’s arts development charity, transforming the region into a place that performs. Savage Children is The Theatre Orchard and Bristol Old Vic’s third year of presenting high quality productions accessible to rural communities in the South West.

NORTH SOMERSET TOUR DATES

Wild Girl – Single Bill
Monday 27 May, 2pm / PILL COMMUNITY ORCHARD, BS20 0HU
Tuesday 28 May, 1pm / LEIGH WOODS, North Road entrance, BS8 3PJ
Tuesday 28 May, 6.30pm / THE COMMUNITY FARM, Chew Magna, BS40 8SZ
Wednesday 29 May, 1pm / TYNTESFIELD, BS48 1NX
Wednesday 29 May, 7pm / THE ETHICUREAN*, Wrington Walled Gardens, BS40 5SA
Thursday 30 May, 2pm / OLD TOWN QUARRY, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 2LU
Thursday 30 May, 7pm / THE ETHICUREAN*, Wrington Walled Gardens, BS40 5SA
Friday 31 May, 2pm & 6pm / THE YEO VALLEY ORGANIC GARDEN, Holt Farm, Blagdon, BS40 7SQ
Saturday 1 June, 2pm / LEIGH WOODS, North Road entrance, BS8 3PJ
Single Bill shows are outdoors.
*Wild supper at 6pm

Wild Girl and Mirad, Boy from Bosnia – Double Bill
Monday 27 May, 7pm / LONG ASHTON VILLAGE HALL, BS41 9DP
Saturday 1 June, 7pm / NAILSEA TITHE BARN, BS48 4NG
Double Bill shows are indoors.

Tickets:
Bristol Old Vic / 0117 987 7877 / http://www.bristololdvic.org.uk/

FREE WORKSHOPS
Audiences are invited to stay, play, talk and draw with the actors, at the Pill Community Orchard and Tyntesfield dates only.
Learn greenwood skills and create a new performance space at family stage-building workshops on Monday 27 May from 11am-4pm at Barley Wood Walled Garden.
Please pre-book all workshops via Bristol Old Vic.

NATIONAL TOUR DATES

May 6–18 / THEATR IOLO, CARDIFF / 02920613782 / theatriolo.com
May 21–25 / THE DUKES, LANCASTER / 01524598500 / dukes-lancaster.org
May 27–June 1 / NORTH SOMERSET TOUR / 01179877877 / bristololdvic.org.uk
June 3–8 / THE EGG, BATH / 01225448844 / theatreroyal.org.uk/the-egg
June 10–14 / THE DUKES, LANCASTER SCHOOLS TOUR / 01524598500 / dukes-lancaster.org
June 18–22 / BRISTOL OLD VIC STUDIO / 01179877877 / bristololdvic.org.uk
June 24–29 / THE EGG, BATH / 01225448844 / theatreroyal.org.uk/the-egg

SAVAGE CHILDREN:
Wild Girl by John Retallack & Mirad, Boy From Bosnia by Ad de Bont
Written and Directed by John Retallack
Music by Lizzie Westcott
Performed by Géhane Strehler, Dean Rehman

THE CAST

Géhane Strehler
Géhane graduated from Guildford School of Acting and went on to appear in the award-winning
Slavery in New York & Los Angeles, as well as Adela in House of Bernada Alba and Shirley in Colours
of Your Life (Denver, Colorado). British theatre credits include Seance on a Sunday Afternoon
(Lakeside Arts), Rattle of a Simple Man (Nuffield Theatre), Shaft of Sunlight – Eye of Moon (Watford
Palace Theatre), Broken Silences (Abbey Theatre), Apna Ghar (Black Country Theatre), 4.48 Psychosis
(Old Red Lion/Arcola Theatre), Theatre Café (Company of Angels), Burn My Heart (Trestle), La Fille a
la Mode (National Theatre). Géhane also performed in two Russian translations, The Slow Sword &
14 Little Red Huts, for Sputnik Theatre. Gehane spent a year as a resident actor at the Unicorn
Theatre and appeared in various productions: Rabia in Red Fortress, Princess Aurora in Sleeping
Beauty, Feste in Twelfth Night, and then embarked on a world tour of Romeo and Juliet with TNT
theatre and performed internationally as Juliet Capulet. Other Shakespeare includes Dr. Caius in
Merry Wives of Windsor.

Dean Rehman
Dean studied drama at the Stella Adler Conservatory For Acting. He has worked extensively in San
Francisco and Manhattan. In 2003 he returned to Europe to perform for Red Rua Theatre in Dublin
as part of the Americana Festival. He has since worked for many theatres and companies in the UK
including: Theatre Clywdd, National Theatre Wales, Sherman Cymru, Swansea Grand, Script Cymru,
Give it a Name, Wales Actors Company, Bristol Old Vic, Theatre West Bristol and was part of the
company Shock N Awe, whose production of Muscle won the 2011 Herald Angel Award at the
Edinburgh Festival. TV credits include: Caerdydd, Pentalar, Gwaith Cartref. Film credits include:
Colonial Gods, Videotapes and Escalator.

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Director – John Retallack
John founded Actors Touring Company and was Artistic Director of Oxford Stage Company from
1989 to 1999. He founded Company of Angels in 2001 to produce new and experimental work for
young audiences. Since 2011 he has been Associate Director and Director of Outreach at Bristol Old
Vic. Wild Girl sits within his extensive portfolio of plays and adaptations, and has been translated and
performed in Holland, where it was runner up for the Dutch-Flemish Playwrights’ Prize in 2004, and in
France and Belgium.

Producer, Set & Costume Designer – Katie Sykes
Katie is a designer/artist/teacher and co-founder of Shoofly Theatre Company. Credits as follows -
Bristol Old Vic: Peter Pan (costume), Coasting, fairymonsterghost, Treasure Island (costume),
Endgame, Antigone, Strange Case and the award-winning Alice in Wonderland (co-designed with
Melly Still). Travelling Light: Boing! , The Mysterious Vanishment of Pobby & Dingan, How Cold My
Toes, Shadowplay, Cloudland, Mother Savage, The Stones, Too Many Cooks and the award-winning
Into The West (Tir na n’og). Tobacco Factory: A Christmas Carol, The Ugly Duckling, Ali Baba & The
Forty Thieves and Cinderella: A Fairytale. Other credits include Up Down Boy (Myrtle Theatre), White
Caps (Champloo Dance), Lost & Found (Polka Theatre), Stickman, Aesop’s Fables and Tiddler & Other
Terrific Tales (Scamp), Kid Carpet & The Noisy Animals (Kid Carpet) and We’re Going On A Bear Hunt (Kenny Wax Prod.).

Composer – Elizabeth Westcott
Elizabeth is a Bristol-based instrumentalist and musical director, and a founder member of Twisted
Theatre. Her work includes original scores for dance films (Traces by Twisted Theatre and Love by
Shift Focus Dance Group), musical direction for several shows by the Bristol Old Vic Young Company
and composition for Circus Britannia by Shaun McCarthy (Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter/Theatre 503).
Most recently Elizabeth directed Death and Treason, Rhyme and Reason at Bristol Old Vic and was
Musical Director for The Theatre Orchard’s In Cider Story, for Hey Diddle Diddle, also at Bristol Old Vic. Previously Elizabeth worked as Assistant Musical Director for Bristol Old Vic’s production of Coram Boy and as Composer for Good Clown Bad Clown, directed by John Retallack.

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Wed 29 May (Wed 29 May-sat 1 Jun) Bristol. Half-term theatre at Bristol Old Vic. King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ED. Box Office: 0117 987 7877. www.bristololdvic.org.uk

LIONBOY. From the novels by Zizou Corder. Adapted by Marcelo Dos Santos

The Curious Scrapbook of Josephine Bean
Created by Shone Reppe. Wonderful things come in small packages and that’s never been truer than with Shona Reppe’s glowingly delightful The Curious Scrapbook of Josephine Bean, starring Reppe as inquisitive “scrapologist”, Dr Patricia Baker.
A dusty, musty smell mixes with the scent of old lavender and a string lifts a flap to reveal a hidden door. Slowly, page-by-page, the scrapbook becomes the window into a secret world and a curious life unfolds before us.
Who was Josephine Bean? The clues are in its pages… Studio. 11am & 2.30pm daily. £8 all tickets. Ages: 7+
The Watery Journey of Nereus Pike Created in collaboration with Katy Schutte and Tom Adams “This is a true story, that I made up,” says Laura Mugridge, architect of this exquisite journey into the heart of a human and beyond. Dive in and swim around… Nereus Pike is floating down from the sunshine to the bottom of the sea. He’s not unhappy about this. He’s smiling. This is a new show by Fringe First Award-winning comedian and theatre-maker Laura Mugridge, in collaboration with Katy Schutte and Tom Adams, with live music from Tom. Expect sea creatures, an impromptu rave scene and a nautical jumper. Basement 8pm £12/£8

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28 May. Clevedon. Stroytelling at the Community Bookshop. Clevedon Community Bookshop will be holding a  Story Time in the coming half term. TUESDAY 28th May at 11am – suitable for 7 and 8 year olds but younger ones can come too! This is the first of a series of STORY TIMES in the Bookshop, check out our website for future sessions, or email enquiries@clevedoncommunitybookshop.coop

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29 May. Sidcot. Orienteering. Sidcot School is opening some of its 150 rural acres to an orienteering challenge for the first time in more than 300 years on Wednesday, May 29^th. The independent day and boarding school near Winscombe has teamed up with Bristol Orienteering Club to put on the event from 5.30pm. Keen orienteer and Sidcot’s Head of Mathematics, Graham Hartley, said: “There will be three courses and the event is open to everyone and all ages.  The short course is for younger orienteers, and is entirely on the school campus.  For over 16’s the medium and long courses go out into the village. “Orienteering is cross country running with brains. It’s a great combination of fitness, planning, navigation and decision making on the move.” Everyone is welcome. The senior entrance fee is £4.50 and £2 for juniors. Sidcot School is the only Quaker School in the South West and one of only nine in the UK. Quakers believe in putting faith into action through peace, equality, simplicity and truth. To sign up for the orienteering event contact Nick Allam or Graham Hartley on 01934 843102 email communications@sidcot.org.uk  For more information about Sidcot School visit www.sidcot.org.uk

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Thu 30 May. Axbridge. Comedy at the Roxy. Live stand-ups. with Sally-Anne Hayward and friends. The Roxy, Axbridge Community Cinema, 36 High Street, Axbridge BS26 2AF. Telephone: 01934 733095.

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Thu 30 May. Street. Ballet.

On Thursday 30^th May Strode Theatre in Street is showing a recorded performance of the exquisite new Dutch National Ballet production of CINDERELLA.

This brand-new Cinderella ballet, choreographed by the internationally acclaimed Christopher Wheeldon (the choreographer behind the recent Royal Ballet production of Alice in Wonderland), was premiered by the Dutch National Ballet at the Amsterdam Music Theatre in December 2012.

Influenced by the Brothers Grimm story of Cinderella, Wheeldon has created an enchanting ballet set to Sergei Prokofiev’s magnificent score with stunning sets and costumes by British designer, Julian Crouch.

The superb cast includes Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding, the perfect pairing for this original 21st century take on the classic fairy story ballet.

The Holland Symfonia is conducted by Ermanno Florio.

CINDERELLA will be shown on the Strode Theatre screen on Thursday 30^th May at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12, concessions £10, available at www.strodetheatre.co.uk or from Strode Theatre’s Box Office on 01458 442846.

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Fri 31 May. Yatton. Bistro night at the Strawberry Line Times. Bistro Evening. 7pm Join us for our next special dining event 3 Course Set Menu £20. Spaces for these evenings at the cafe are extremely limited and very popular, so please book soon to avoid disappointment! http://www.strawberrylinecafe.co.uk/2013/05/bistro-evening-friday-31st-may-7pm/

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Fri 31 May. Winscombe. English wine event at the Wine Tasting Company near the library. The village’s wine shop have three fantastic wine producers from Somerset coming to the shop for the day giving you the opportunity to taste their wine, chat with them about growing vines in the South West, the ups and downs and the passion and love behind what they do. The producers are; Iain from Oatley Vineyard, nr Cannington; Guy and Laura from Simth and Evans in Aller, Langport; Ingrid from Dunleavy in Wrington. 10.00am – 3.00pm. No need to book just pop in or visit http://www.thewinetastingco.com/  Tel: 01934 708 312; 21 Woodborough Rd, Winscombe BS25 1AB.

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Cool but sunny – a high of 12C with a chill light north breeze. UV up to 5/7 but pollen remains low – as we enter the last days of spring. Cold tonight and a similar day to tomorrow – with no prospect of warmer summer weather yet – but remaining dry following yesterdays showers.

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Workers in the Strawberry Line District face job cuts say First Bus although they hope to avoid compulsory redundancies as bus routes are cut in Somerset. In a statement to Strawberry Line Times the company said: “In Weston-super-Mare First proposes to remove Service 1 and Service 14.In  Bridgwater, First proposes to remove Town Services 1, 2 and 3, but will register  a  brand  new  service  which will mean that many of its existing customers will continue to benefit from a First service.”

The firm said they had “started  the  collective  consultation process with trade unions  on  the  possibility of up to 12 redundancies at its Bridgwater bus depot.  However,  the  company  is  hopeful, following positive discussions that no redundancies will be necessary.”

The Strawberry Line Times believes the popular Wells to Weston 126 is not under threat. Service 1 takes in Weston and Sand Bay.

A school drama group is going to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August this year. Hurly Burly, Sidcot School’s new drama company, is taking a show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – ‘Death by Shakespeare’, from 2-10 August 2013. They will be performing at theSpace@Venue45 at 2.05pm, and tickets are now on sale via the Edinburgh Fringe website. Here’s the description of the show, as it appears on the ’edfringe’ website:

Revel in Shakespeare’s most macabre death scenes, from Macbeth to Mercutio. Your hosts are a chorus of gravediggers and ghouls who will expose you to Shakespeare’s darkest moments and bring alive some of Shakespeare’s finest writing. But which tragic hero will the audience choose to save? Expect a different ending every day. Our show is a blistering fusion of poetry, madness and unexpected beauty. These are Shakespeare’s best death scenes in one gory hour – it’s Shakespeare’s greatest hits!

For more about Hurly Burly visit http://www.sidcot.org.uk/edinburgh-festival-fringe/

The recently acquired GWR 17 gallon churn was bought at auction in need of attention. We have had it refurbished to enable it to go on display at the Centre. Milk traffic was an important part of any station. Old photographs will often show these distinctive conical milk churns standing on platforms or trolleys awaiting collection. A 17 gallon churn weighed 2.5 cwt. when full! It is not surprising to find that platforms often had a raised ramp for ease of loading full churns into ‘Siphons’ – special goods vans for the purpose with concrete floors to take the weight. Milk contracts would often include a clause that required the farmer or his employees to assist the station staff load full churns and unload the empties.

Local Winscombe farmer, Archie Forbes, informs:-

“The wide based shape of these conical churns made them more stable to carry on a horse & cart. The later aluminium straight sided design was less stable and also harder to ‘roll’ but much lighter by comparison and a joy to handle. I remember meeting a man who could pick up a churn in each hand and carry them from his cart to the Dairy some 50 yards away – quite a feat of strength! As for ‘trundling’, this is a skill you never forget and there was much competition between farmers to see who was quickest! (‘Trundling’ or ‘spinning’ also happened at stations between staff). There was a big milk processing plant on the main line at St George’s where milk was collected for transporting in bulk containers and which also made a tanker load of cream daily. These went to the major Co-op depot in London. The Milk Marketing Board came into being in 1933 to stabilise supply of milk to cities. It was a great shame that this was ever scrapped!”

A visitor, who called in at SSRHC and wrote in our book, worked at this London Co-op depot at one time and confirmed registering milk received from the Cheddar Valley Line.

Margaret Ballard, whose family have farmed at Station Road Farm, opposite Sandford station, for over a century, tells that:-

“Ours was one of a dozen dairy farms in Sandford. The others were – John Garrett, who had a Somerset County Council Farm at Towerhead; Percy Cox, also at Towerhead; Thatchers and Champneys both on Station Road; Victor Watts at Droveway Farm, Nye Road (now Keedwell’s); Hockey’s and another farmer also down Nye Road; Edward Avery at Pool Farm, the thatched building on Greenhill Road, who had a dairy round for local supply. Apart from Edward Avery, all were paid by the Milk Marketing Board and had their churns picked up from stands by the roadside for despatch to London via the Co-op depot at Hewish.”

The following is an extract from ‘A Parish and the Railway’ by Peter Knight:

‘A section of platform was laid with wooden blocks ‘for milk traffic’. This would have been to receive churns trolleyed onto the platform ready for despatch to the distant milk depot. The churns at that time would have been the conical, man sized seventeen gallon containers which can still sometimes be seen rustilly forcing rhubarb in country gardens. Filled with milk they were heavy. Dropping them onto wooden blocks would have damaged them less than onto stone or concrete. Old-hand porters would demonstrate their skills by trundling them along platforms, leaning them over to one side and spinning them along one-handed on the base rim. Farm boys also liked to demonstrate their strength by lifting a full one single-handed.

One of the major items of traffic from any dairy region was milk and the Cheddar valley line certainly served a dairy farming area. It was customary for farmers to arrange to send their milk to major depots by rail. One of the most important maintained by the Great Western was at Paddington. Several local farmers, including farmer Gadd of Sandford and Frost of Winscombe, despatched their milk thus. Their churns were equipped with brass labels depicting the depot identity (in the local case, Paddington) and other labels showing the farmer’s name and station of origin. The goods staff at the despatching station recorded the amounts that were sent by individual farmers and in due course the railway forwarded the cash that was due to each farmer. The empty churns were returned ready for use the following evening – as long as the location was not too far away.

The churns were sent in vehicles of various sizes, depending on the potential load, which were built with semi-open slatted sides. These had telegraph names (something peculiar to railways) of ‘Siphon’. These ranged from Siphon C to Siphon H. All vehicle types had telegraph names. This was to simplify communication by Morse code. The idea of the slatted sides was to allow a stream of air to constantly blow through the vehicle when moving in an attempt to keep the milk cool. These Siphons were designated as ‘brown’ vehicles. This meant that they were fitted with continuous vacuum brakes and could be attached either to passenger trains or milk trains, they were also continuously banked and travelled at speeds similar to passenger express trains. Milk traffic on the line reached its peak just before WW2 and it is recorded that the single Sunday train on the Valley line (up from Wells) would have up to eight large vans attached, all loaded with churns.’

The late Pete Knight would have loved our Sandford Station project. He was advisor to both the Cheddar Valley Railway Walk Society and The Winscombe & Sandford Millennium Green where he was a trustee and authority on all things railway and a friend into the bargain. He knew everything about the Cheddar Valley Line and the parish of Winscombe & Sandford and the story of the two from 1869 to 2000 is interwoven in his book ‘A Parish and the Railway’. I can thoroughly recommend reading this informative and thoroughly researched work which you will find in our book list.

Article by SSRHC committee member Lois Brenchley March 2013

For more about the station visit http://sandfordstation.co.uk/