Stalwarts Challenge Exmoor!!!

The question we were all  asking  was “why are we doing this?” Participation in this year’s Exmoor Challenge entailed a 7:30 am start; if that wasn’t bad enough the weather deteriorated rapidly as our small but enthusiastic group  (Karen, Grahame, Anne and Roger W) headed west towards the starting point at Oakford. Nevertheless morale was high by the time we arrived at the Village Hall. Coffee and bacon baps (not a patch on ours!)  were consumed prior to us assuming full and impressive  wet weather kit.

We had already decided to do the 7.5 mile long walk and by 9:45 we were on our way. It would be an understatement to say it was wet. Copious quantities of mud and rain  were in evidence throughout our perambulations. We experienced great fellowship with Rotarians from Districts 1175 and 1200 as we circumnavigated the set walk. We were back at base by 12;25 pm for sandwiches, tea and cake – we were wet but happy. Coco the dog enjoyed it too.

You might well  ask what the Exmoor Challenge is all about? It’s a challenge between Rotary Districts 1175 and 1200. Rotarians from each district, their families and friends earn one point for completing the puny short walk (4.5 miles) and a well deserved two points for the long walk’s completion (7.5 miles). The district with the most points wins the Challenge Shield. Of greater importance is that the money raised from entry fees and sponsorship is donated to the Children’s Hospice South West and the Sand Dam Project.

A good day.

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Gardening Games at Cale Park

The Week’s Hot Tip  courtesy Joe Swift, (who you’ll know is Monty Don’s number two),  is to “fish out unwanted weeds to reduce the number of desirable weeds ……! “.  Well Joe old boy we at Brue Valley have news for you – there’s no such thing as desirable weeds.  This was evidenced by this morning’s blitzkrieg on our gardening project at Wincanton’s Cale Park.

Recapitulation might be necessary . The avid reader will recollect Brue Valley Rotary Club agreed to restore an overgrown bed adjacent to the river at Cale Park to its former glory. The larger photo demonstrates the magnitude of our task on our first visit a few weeks ago.  On that occasion the roots of many large shrubs were enthusiastically removed. Today found three Rotarians doing what our leader, (Mr Roger Lowe), described as “a bit of rough digging”. A blitzkrieg doesn’t do justice to the effort; we really went for it – so much so the job was completed within the hour. The well earned euphoria though was diluted by Mr Lowe opining, after deep consideration,  that further digging would be necessary.

The post rough digging coffees and Lovington’s buns (thank you Mr Moore) were a welcome conclusion to the morning’s excitement.

Bruton Coffee Morning

Once again Brue Valley Rotary hosted the coffee morning in Bruton Community Hall although numbers were slightly lower than hoped we still managed to raise around £160 for local Rotary charities.  A big thank you to all members who donated items for the sale tables, especially the hard working bakers and to those members who turned up to man the tables and tea bar.

 

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Brue Valley Go Skittling!

Brue Valley Rotary held a very boisterous social evening at The Camelot Inn, South Cadbury, on Thursday where we enjoyed a delicious meal followed by a slightly unorthodox game of skittles ……………………… the eventual winner, Jenia, hadn’t told us that she is the ‘unofficial’ Bulgarian Skittles Champion!

 

Would you know how to save a life ?

Defibrillator Training – 23rd March – Open to all.

North Cadbury Wassail

What a great evening we had in North Cadbury for our annual Wassail.  Although muddy underfoot the skies stayed fairly dry and allowed proceedings to go with a bang!  After being entertained by the Wyvern Jubilee Morris Men, we were led to the orchard by our Wassail Queen Isobel Kettle from North Cadbury.  Eventually the Master of Ceremonies, Alan Stone, regailed us of the history of wassailing and led us in singing the wassail song before the Wassail Queen placed toast in the branches of an apple tree and poured cider around it’s roots to encourage a bountiful crop in the coming year.  Around 100 guests were treated to mulled cider and apple juice, not forgetting the bacon butties and burgers, all served by the jolly members of Brue Valley Rotary Club.   After the ceremonies many guests retired to The Catash Inn where they enjoyed a lovely supper and were entertained once again by the Wyvern Jubilee Morris Men who performed an amusing Mummers play.

Well done everyone for your hard work in raising over £700 for charity.

Thanks to:

• Wyvern Jubilee Morris Men
• The Catash
• Sparkford Sawmills
• Alan Stone
• The Wassail Queen
• The Supplier of the Electricity
• Everyone who attended

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