Welcome to Brightwalton News

Farnborough, Unnamed Road from B4494 to A338. 0900 to 1500 Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd November.
 
The closure is on behalf of British Telecom and is so emergency repairs can be done to overhead cables. They have customers who are disconnected.
 
Diversion will be via Brightwalton and Common Lane. There are already traffic lights on the diversion but the closure has been allowed due to the urgency of the works.
 
Enquires should be addressed to BT’s contractors, A plant, on 03700 500792 for the attention of Leo Pulvinenti.
 
The closure can be viewed on roadworks.org under the following link Farnborough closure
 
Regards
 
Bob Bosley
Project Engineer
Transport  and Countryside

Grace Ryder, Scheme Manager of Home-Start West Berkshire has asked us to share the following request:

"Home-Start are currently recruiting volunteers and we are looking for parents or people with parenting experience who have a bit of time to give a family in need. Volunteering for Home-Start is a great way for parents to use their own parenting skills to help others and improve their sense of well-being. We really need volunteers to support families in the Boxford area. 
 
Home-Start West Berkshire, a local family support charity is currently recruiting in this area.  They need volunteers who can encourage, listen and offer practical support to parents with young children. Volunteers become a trusted friend and mentor to the family, to help them move forward. Their next training course will start on the 21st January 2019. It will run for 7 consecutive Mondays from 9.30-14.30pm, breaking for Half Term (Monday 18thFebruary). If you are interested or would like to discuss this further please contact us now on 01635 760310 or email [email protected]
More information can be found on our website www.home-startwestberks.org.uk"
​

Today West Berkshire Council begins a public consultation on budget proposals which affect some frontline services. They are keen that as many residents, groups and organisations as possible have the opportunity to review the proposals and respond if they want to.
The information can be found at:  www.westberks.gov.uk/budgetproposals
Or if you would prefer you can request a hard copy by calling ​ 01635 503043.

Press Release from West Berkshire Council - 

Removal of unwanted Green Bins
​West Berkshire Council will be arranging collection of unwanted green bins over the next few months. 

Residents who do not wish to subscribe to the garden waste service or use their green bin to recycle food waste can request a collection online to have their green bin removed from their property
We would encourage residents to use their green bin to recycle food waste or to use them for something other than garden waste. Some residents have chosen to use them for extra storage, or to convert them into a water butt, wormery or composter.
​
Request for a green bin to be collected at www.westberks.gov.uk/unwantedgreenbin

A copy of the Ridgeway winter newsletter 2018 can be downloaded here. 

The latest newsletter is full of stories of inspiring people and also ideas for your adventures in 2019:
Pubs along the Trail are winning awards. Which is your favourite? Please get involved on social media 
A stroke survivor tells us how The Ridgeway got him back to fitness, one step at a time
Find out what the Vikings left behind near Watlington
Look forward to an easier walk along the Trail thanks to numerous new gates in the Chilterns
If you love history and have time to volunteer, help us create a Ridgeway timeline from prehistory to today
Find out about events to mark WW1, celebrate Christmas and learn more about stars, mosses and birds....

Sunday 11th November at 7pm 
To mark the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, there will be an Act of Remembrance and Call for Peace. Starting at the Church gates, we will follow a piper to the War Memorial for a short service, and sounding of the Last Post, after which the bells will ring out for peace. 

Reverend Miri Keen has asked us to circulate the following:
​Chaddleworth & Shefford Schools  present:
 
We will remember them
  
“If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind us.”                
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

After a century, no one is left who remembers putting on a uniform and going off to Ypres or the Somme.  And yet every November the millions of dead cry out to us to remember – and to learn by what happened to them.
In this centenary of the Great War’s ending, the children of Chaddleworth & Shefford Schools will be, literally, giving voices to the Dead.  Speaking the words of men and women and children who were there, they will conjure up a vivid picture of life in the trenches, hospitals, at home in Britain.
The hope, of course, is not just to offer their audience a moving act of remembrance but to turn history into a memorable experience that will have the children identifying with real-life soldiers, nurses and civilians.
 
The children and staff very much hope you will want to be part of this special
Armistice event. 
Chaddleworth St Andrew’s & Shefford Federated C of E schools
present
‘We will remember them’
on
Tuesday 6th November   10.15a.m.       
by Geraldine McCaughrean
at
St. Stephen’s church
Shefford Woodlands
 
We hope you will stay to have
refreshments after the performance.
 
Please let Mrs Nutley in the School Office know if you are able to come.
tel: 01488 648657

The Pew Sheet for Sunday 4th November can be downloaded here

You are warmly invited to give thanks for the ministry of
 
Revd Mary Harwood
 
and to celebrate with her as she retires.
  
Service of
Advent Carols and Readings
All Saints Church, Brightwalton
Sunday 16th December 2018 at 6pm
followed by Refreshments in the Village Hall
 
RSVP Mrs Evelyn Bracey
[email protected]
 
 If you would like to record your memories of Mary’s ministry, or to thank her for the part she has played in the life of your family and our community, there is a commemorative book being passed around the Benefice.  Please contact your Churchwarden to find out when it will be available in your village, or come prepared to write in it at the Reception on 16th December. 
 
  If you would like to contribute to a retirement gift for Mary you may make a bank transfer to:
please contact Evelyn Bracey, Lindsay Hardy or Sue Ridgeway who will be able to accept donations.  The closing date for contributions is 1st December 2018. 
Thank you.

Press Release from West Berkshire Council - 

With mornings already turning chilly, West Berkshire Council has activated its Winter Service Plan to keep the District on the move and our network as safe as possible. Since the beginning of this week, we have been ready to grit key routes whenever road temperatures are forecast to fall below zero. 
West Berkshire’s Executive Member for Transport and Countryside, Jeanette Clifford, said: “Each year, the council gears up for winter weather. We have 1500 tonnes of rock salt to hand at our Chieveley Depot (and I can tell you that it’s an impressive sight), a further 1000 tonnes on standby and our gritting fleet fully serviced and ready for action. I’d like to thank our gritting teams for the difficult work they do, often in the worst of weather, covering, when needed, a full 60% of our network. However, it’s impossible to treat every minor road, so when winter sets in, I encourage everyone to allow more time for journeys and take extra care.”
Primary routes, accounting for 40% of the district's almost 800 miles of road, are gritted whenever ice or a frost is forecast. These routes include all A and B roads and some strategically important C roads. Secondary routes, making up 20% of the highway network, are gritted once frosty or icy conditions are experienced for an unbroken period of 72 hours or greater (i.e., sub-zero temperatures experienced through the period for 3 continuous days and nights) 

There are also 480 roadside salt bins to help keep the road network and council offices and public buildings accessible. Of these, 31 are owned and maintained by West Berkshire Council and 449 by the Parish or Town Councils.
The decision on when to grit roads is triggered by weather alerts from the MeteoGroup. We try to grit after the evening rush hour or before the morning rush hour to keep disruption on the roads to a minimum.

Our Preparing for Winter pages offer advice on keeping safe this winter including while you travel.