Recycling Collection for real Christmas Trees
To help West Berkshire residents to have a green Christmas and recycle even more, West Berkshire Council will collect real Christmas Trees from residents even if they do not subscribe to the garden waste collection service.
Real trees should simply be left with your recycling on your scheduled collection day up until Friday 18 January.  Any decorations, lights and pots must be removed before recycling.  

​Revised collection day
Christmas and New Year collection dates 2018/19
Mon 24 Dec as normal Mon 24 Dec
Tues 25 Dec will be collected on Thurs 27 Dec
Wed 26 Dec will be collected on Fri 28 Dec
Thurs 27 Dec will be collected on Sat 29 Dec
Fri 28 Dec will be collected on Mon 31 Dec

Mon 31 Dec will be collected on Wed 2 Jan
Tues 1 Jan will be collected on Thurs 3 Jan
Wed 2 Jan will be collected on Fri 4 Jan
Thurs 3 Jan will be collected on Sat 5 Jan
Fri 4 Jan will be collected on Mon 7 Jan

Mon 7 Jan will be collected on Tues 8 Jan
Tues 8 Jan will be collected on Wed 9 Jan
Wed 9 Jan will be collected on Thurs 1 0 Jan
Thurs 1 0 Jan will be collected on Fri 11 J an
Fri 11 Jan will be collected on Sat 12 Jan
 
Collections will return to normal on Monday 14 January 2019
To check your collection week or for updates to waste services during severe weather visit www.westberks.gov.uk/waste
​

The Pew Sheet for the 9th December can be downloaded below.

​The services in the West Downland Benefice this Sunday will be:
​8.00am Holy Communion (BCP) at Brightwalton
9.30am Holy Communion at Great Shefford
10.00am Nativity Play Service at Leckhampstead.
 11.00am Holy Communion (BCP) at Wickham.
 4.00pm Village Carols and Readings at Brightwalton.

The winter edition of Upstream from the West Berkshire Countryside Society can be downloaded here. 

Welcome to your November Brickleton 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 office@home-startwb.org.uk
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
wj.bracey.and.sons@farmline.com
 
 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.

Don't forget the Brightwalton Walk this coming Sunday - raising money for Brightwalton School and the ASPIRE Project. Tickets can be purchased from Miranda Cooper (mikeandmiranda@hotmail.com) or Clare Draper (clare.draper@jadit.com)
There is a 1.5mile and a 5 mile option, across wonderful countryside. 
Double match funding has been recieved for this event so if you cannot make the walk but would like to make a donation, it will make a real difference, please contact Miranda or Clare. 

Thank you to all those that turned out for a bright and fresh Sunday morning for the Village Working party. It was great to see new faces and also lots of children helping. A huge amount was achieved and workers were rewarded with sausage rolls, cake, biscuits and beer! Thank you to all those that made it happen and took part. 

We have received the following advanced notice - "Due to water utility works, in half-term week 22nd-26th October, they will need to divert the off-peak minibus route 5a within Brightwalton as shown by the green line on this map.  
 
This will mean the minibus cannot serve the Village Hall bus stop in that week. They plan to site a temporary bus stop sign at the other end of Ash Close, south of Old Forge.
 
Thames Water/Balfour Beatty have been told that they have to get the bit shown in red sorted during half-term week, so that all can then go back to normal for when school resumes.

Received from West Berkshire Public Transport Officer - 05/10/18

The autumn edition of the West Berkshire Countryside Society newsletter can be found here:
​

West Berkshire Highways have just notified us of the following closure:

These works are taking place so that Thames Water can renew the water main safely.
 
ROAD - Unnamed Rd from A338 Wantage Rd to Common Ln
EXTENT - Between Unnamed Rd from A338 Wantage Rd B4494 and Common Ln 
DIVERSION (or by this route reversed) -Unnamed Road From A338 Wantage Road to B4494, B4494 Wantage Road,  Common Ln
PROPOSED CLOSURE DATE - 08/10/18 To 02/11/18
 
Please note that access will be maintained for residential access, and the diversion will be signed on site.
 
All enquiries should be directed to:  Thames Water on:- 0800 316 9800
 
A plan of the closure can be found using the following the link:- Common lane closure

Soon to be delivered through your door, but if you can't wait that long you can download it here...

Please join us for the annual village working party, Sunday 7th October meeting at the village hall from 10am. Lunch and refreshments for all the workers, tasks for all ages and abilities, please bring tools and gloves. 

Shaw House and the West Berkshire Museum have a number of events planned over the next few months, please see the attached flyers for details: