Weekly column of Tetbury news by Kevin Painter

1 Hidden gem of Tetbury 

One of the hidden Gems of Tetbury is Upton Mill Care Home.

I caught up with the new Client Services Manager Sam McMurtrie who looking forward to carrying on and enhancing the reputation of this award-winning home

Sam who is proud of his roots said 'I was born in Gloucestershire and lived with my parents until 2020; my parents instilled strong values in me that have got me to where I am today.

I have had many jobs during my career, from selling Rolex watches to working onboard a cruise ship travelling around the world, but I chose to apply for my current role as Client Services Manager at Upton Mill Care Home due to my passion for building lasting relationships with people. and I hope to make a real difference to the Tetbury community through this role.

I have a childhood connection to Tetbury and the surrounding area due to my grandparents both living in Avening; I used to regularly visit them with my parents and younger brother, who I would spend time with cycling around the lanes near Star Farm.

I started at Upton Mill in February of this year, and I am really enjoying getting to know our residents and their families. Tetbury is a wonderful town with lots of local businesses, and I am hoping to involve as many as I can with our monthly open days. My role at Upton Mill is to provide support to families at a time when they may be struggling to provide their relatives with the help they need to live a comfortable life. I am the first point of call during an individual’s initial enquiry and continue to support our residents after they have moved into our home. Our team is incredible and work hard to ensure they go above and beyond to provide our residents with the highest standard of care possible. Our Home Manager Sita has been instrumental in the success of Upton Mill and continues to support our team, residents and their relatives on a daily basis.

Recently we hosted a fundraising event for Marie Curie, which was a great success, raising £126.30 for this incredible charity. This would not have been possible without the amazing support we received from the local community and also our fantastic team here at Upton Mill. We are hosting another event soon for National Gardening Week, more details on this will be released soon.'' Sam concluded ''At Upton Mill Care Home we provide 24-hour residential, dementia, nursing and respite care for the people of Tetbury and the wider Gloucestershire area.

We currently have a rating of 9.9 on independent care home review website carehome.co.uk, meaning we are one of the top care homes in Tetbury. In 2022 we also won the ‘Best Interior Design’ award at the prestigious Pinders Healthcare Design Awards. Upton Mill Care Home is one of 21 homes belonging to the Porthaven Care Homes Group, who were recently recognised as a ‘Top 20 Mid-size Care Home Group’ for the ninth year in a row by carehome.co.uk.

If you would like to get in touch with us here at Upton Mill please call us on 01666 336600 or email Sam at csm.uptonmill@porthaven.co.uk.''

2. Plans to build closer links between church and community 

This Saturday 13th April 2024 the Churches Conservation Trust local representative will be at St Saviour’s Church to discuss a Church Plan how we might build closer links between the church and the community.

They will be also giving the building a bit of a Spring clean on the day as well to try to bring back some of its sparkle.

All are welcome to come along please bring your ideas, energy, expertise, memories and feather dusters!

So grab a pew!

Or clean a pew, its up to you but this is an ideal opportunity to meet discuss how the church can be used or even help out.

They will be there from 10:30am onwards. St Saviour’s Church, Even though it is classified as a redundant, the 19th-century Anglican church is still very much the spiritual home to many locals, still used as part of the current burial ground which is one of the reasons why may locals still visit.

To the many visitors it is a stunning magnificent Victorian Gothic Revival Church many visitors who look round and are amazed at the fabulously ornate medieval style.

And this is a perfect opportunity to say thank you to Lou Roseblade who looks after the church opening it and closing it and making sure it is safe, and being a truly inspirational neighbour by looking after it so well Thank you Lou, your Mother would be very proud of you carrying on the family traditions are we.

3. Comedy night 

Tetbury United services club are pleased to present this Saturday 13th April 2024 back by popular demand an evening of fantastic comedy night. Come and support our very own special guest Matt Roseblade with Demitris Deech, Joe Fortis and Neal Cantillio.

Hosted by Tim Dennis If that is not enough to tempt you, how about it's Free! And that’s no joke. Starting at 9:00 pm and this is for adults only.

No tickets needed guests welcome . The u can’t comedy club have hit the circuit in Swindon with great success over the last couple of years. So come support your local club.

4. Reflective breakfast for women 

You are invited to a reflective breakfast for women this Saturday, April 13 from 9:30 am until 11:00 am.

This will be at the tranquil location of Christchurch The Chipping.

This will be a special time to chat and time to be encouraged as you share simple craft activity and be able to listen to someone sharing their faith and enjoy breakfast which would include hot drinks, pastries, granola, fruit and yoghurt.

To book your place please email office@tetburychurch.co.uk or ring 01666 500088 although free a suggestion of a £5 donation if you can on the day would be appreciated.

This is a Tetbury Area Churches Together (TACT) initiative

5. St Mary's Church announce return of initiative 

St Mary’s Church are pleased to announce the return of the popular Being With initiative.

The Being With course is an introduction to Christianity with a difference. Rather than being a Bible study or series of arguments to try to convince you that God exists, it starts with the conviction that you already have a wealth of understanding of truth, beauty and goodness that will help you, in the company of others, to recognise God’s presence in your life and your everyday experiences.

At its heart is the idea that God’s greatest desire is to be with us in Jesus.

That’s the reason the world was created; that’s why you were created. Giving you the opportunity of exploring God in the Everyday. Over a period of ten weeks, you will discover dimensions of this presence and what it means to live abundantly with God and with one another with creation. Tuesday afternoons evenings 1.30-3pm 10 weeks in 2 blocks April 16th - May 21st 2024. June 4th - June 25th 2024. The venue will be confirmed on booking (in Tetbury)The cost there is no cost to participants. For more details go to www.tetburychurch.co.uk To pre book a place contact the church office, email office@tetburychurch.co.uk / or ring 01666500088. This will be an inclusive experience, all welcome, no special knowledge or religious language needed, just what you have learned so far from life.

 

6. Afternoon music at the Goods Shed 

On Wednesday April 17. Tetbury Goods Shed are delighted to present Afternoon Music with between the Acts. Between the Acts play folk dance music from Britain and Ireland - jigs, reels, polkas and more - on fiddle, guitar, piano, oboe and percussion. They also sing some folk songs, both traditional and contemporary.

Their suite of tunes depicting the journey to Santiago de Compostela was recorded on a CD called 'Hours". They also play American songs and English folk songs. They contributed to a remake of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding album to mark its fiftieth anniversary, and this too was recorded as a CD.Starting at 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm,Please do come along – maybe meeting friends or making new ones whilst enjoying some lovely music. Advance tickets are just £3.50 (plus booking fee) Tickets on the door cost £4.00. The Whistle Stop Café will be open if you fancy a nice cup of tea (or coffee) and perhaps one of Sasha’s delicious cakes. For more information or to book you ticket, please visit the new website:www.tetburygoodsshed.co.uk

7. Screening of film about inspirational man 

Shed Screening: Tetbury Goods Shed Cinema are pleased to be screening the film One Life (PG) on 18 April 7:30 pm - 9:20 pm Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Jonathan Pryce, Romola Garai This is the story of Sir Nicholas "Nicky" Winton, a young London broker who, in the months leading up to World War 11, rescued 669 predominantly Jewish children from the Nazis.

Nicky visited Prague in December 1938 and found families who had fled the rise of the Nazis in Germany and Austria, living in desperate conditions with little or no shelter and food, and under threat of Nazi invasion. He immediately realized it was a race against time. How many children could he and the team rescue before the borders closed?

Fifty years later, it’s 1988 and Nicky lives haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England; always blaming himself for not doing more. It’s not until a live BBC television show, ‘That’s Life’, surprises him by introducing him to some surviving children — now adults — that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he had carried for five decades.Doors and bar open at 7:00pm the film starts at 7:30pm-9:20pm tickets are £7.50 For more information or to book your tickets, please visit the new website:www.tetburygoodsshed.co.uk

8. Fascinating and humorous evening in store 

Tetbury Goods Shed are delighted to present My Mountain Life a talk with Sim on Yates - Of 'Touching the Void' Fame on Friday 19th April 2024 at 7.30. A fascinating and humorous evening, acclaimed by both regular theatre patrons and outdoor enthusiasts alike!

On the remote Siula Grande in Peru in June 1985, mountaineer Simon Yates found himself in a desperately unenviable position. He was slowly being pulled off the mountain face by his injured partner, Joe Simpson, dangling on the rope 50 metres below. His decision to cut the rope saved both their lives in the epic of survival that followed and with the publication of the book ‘Touching The Void’, later film and stage play, both climbers became household names.

It was an experience that could have put many off the sport of mountaineering – but not Simon. Over 35 years later, he is still a very active exploratory climber and guide, making several expeditions to the mountains each year. From the Arctic to the Antarctic, Alaska to Central Asia, there is hardly a significant range that he has not visited.

Come along and witness Simon's tireless journey from that mountain in Peru to some of the remotest places on the planet, and share with him the drama, excitement and beauty of modern, lightweight alpinism. Told with wit, dry humour and lavishly illustrated with images and film collected on his great climbs.

For more information or to book you ticket, please visit the website:www.tetburygoodsshed.co.uk Tickets cost Adult advance £18, Student/Under-16 advance £16. Tickets can be bought at the door on the night cost £20 and £18 respectively

9. Dramatic Society present Spider's Web 

The Tetbury Dolphins Dramatic Society are delighted to present ‘Spider's web’, by Agatha Christie on Thursday 25 April at 7.30pm, Friday 26 April at 7.30pm, with a special matinee on Saturday 27 April at 2.30pm, and again latter on Saturday 27 April at 7.30pm at the Dolphins Hall, New Church Street, Tetbury. Clarissa who is the wife of a diplomat, is adept at spinning tales of adventure, but when a murder takes place in her own drawing room she finds live drama much harder to cope with. Desperate to dispose of the body before her husband arrives with an important politician, she enlists the help of her guests.

A conscious parody of the detective thriller, Christie delivers a unique blend of suspense and humour. There is tension and laughter in equal parts in an intricate plot of murder and deception. Tickets for “Spider's web” are now available from Tetbury Hardware or online: www.dolphinsdrama.uk . Prices are adult £11.00 concession, £9.00. This amateur production of “Spider's web” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. On behalf of Samuel French Ltd.

10. Guided tour of Grade 1 listed gardens 

The Holfords of Westonbirt Trust Are delighted to announce that after a sell out of their first guided tour of the Grade 1 listed gardens of Westonbirt House of the season, they are looking forward to their next one on Wednesday May 1st, at 11.30am.

Visitors will enjoy and expertly guided tour of the gardens planted by Robert Stayner Holford and his family.

They will hear about the history of the family whilst enjoying the recently restored and planted lake, the stunning Italian Gardens, Camellia House and many other features of these beautiful grounds.the tour will take 1 hour 30 minutes on Wed, 1 May 2024 11:30 - 13:00 BST,Westonbirt School, Westonbirt Tetbury GL8 8QG. Tickets must be pre-booked, to find out more or to book your tickets please visit. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/guided-tour-of-the-grade-1-listed-gardens-of-westonbirt-house-tickets. And if you can't make this one there will be another opportunity on Wednesday, May 15 2024 at 11.30