Just to let you know, we have had to lock two of the gates leading onto the football pitch on the Recreation Ground. This is because wild boar have gained access through these openings, which are not secure. We have ordered new, more substantial gates, to replace them but it will take time for these to arrive. These new gates cost over £700.00 and, as a charity, we have had to make this investment for the good of the facilities.
We apologise for the inconvenience, but it is essential we prevent the boar from destroying the football pitch.
The gates affected are the small one leading from the car park onto the field and the replaced ‘kissing gate’ on Church Road. The gates at the top of Church Road and into the car park remain unaffected.
The hall will be open on Sunday 1st December for a Christmas Fair in plenty of time to get what you need for the special day. All the family welcome. There’ll be a Santa’s Grotto, with the big man himself available, Stalls, Crafts, Music, Tea and Cake, Mulled Wine and more.
And, if you’d like to book a table for your own wares, Please contact, as below. But hurry, spaces are limited and filling up fast!
We’re looking forward to welcoming all at the event.
The Fete, organised and run by a small subcommittee led by Andrew Clements on behalf of Lydbrook Memorial Hall with the invaluable help of many volunteers and organisations from across the community, proved an outstanding success. Too many people to thank individually but, our sincere thanks for everyone who set it all up, put everything down, and helped clear up afterwards; you all know who you are! A big thank you also to everyone who donated raffle and tombola prizes and to all those local businesses that supported the event by giving their time and products. Also, it was great to have so many different stalls and activities run by so many people, thank you all.
Lydbrook Training Band, Yule’s Group, Morris Men, and Ships and Giggles sea-shanty group provided musical entertainment.
At the time of writing, we’re still awaiting the total of money raised from the event. I know those responsible will announce this soon.
And it was great to see the whole event so well attended by so many local people.
There was lots of live music, a tombola, BBQ food, tea and lovely cakes, a dog show, drinks, face-painting, games, stalls, a Victoria Sponge baking contest, bric-a-brac and more! I was unable to spend as long at the event as I’d have liked, unfortunately, so I missed some of the fun. But I’ve included some photos I took on the day and hope these will act as reminders of the fun and joy all shared.
Once again, THANK YOU to all involved
Subsequent to the Fete, the group of people who run the Memorial Hall and the Recreation Ground held their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday in the Hall. There were eleven people present. 8 of those were trustees and two were trustees’ wives, the eleventh volunteered as a new trustee! It’s disappointing so few members of the local community feel they can help the charity that looks after these two assets. We need new trustees, as we’ve lost three recently, and another is probably leaving at the end of the year. So, please, come along to our next meeting, Tuesday 3rd September, in the hall at 19:00. You’ll be made welcome. Thank you.
On 14th July, from 12:00 to 16:00 (approximate times, as things might overrun!) we’re holding a Summer Fete for all the village and visitors on the Recreation Ground.
There’ll be live music, a tombola, BBQ food, a dog show, drinks, face-painting, games, stalls, a Victoria Sponge baking contest, bric-a-brac and more!
All are welcome.
Be there or miss out on all the fun, food and music!
The trustees and friends of Lydbrook Memorial Hall and Recreation Ground would like to convey their heartfelt sympathy to the family and friends of Jim Matthews, a long-standing committee member and supporter of Lydbrook Memorial Hall. Jim was instrumental in so many projects over the years. If he saw something that needed doing, he just did it. He organized materials, labour, and provided ample supervision to get the job done. His dedication to the memory of the fallen was second to none having located and visited many of the graves of the men listed on the village memorial. It is impossible to list everything he did for this organization; suffice to say he will be a hard act to follow!
At the beginning of the week, a well-attended funeral was held at the village church. Fortunately, the committee had been forewarned of the event, so we were able to suspend parking fees for our car park for a short time, especially as a number of attendees had travelled a long way. This is something we can do on only a few occasions because of the contract we have with our parking partner, Parking Eye.
As a charity, we help events in the village when we can. We could have left the car park fee in place, but some drivers have objected to the small amount charged and have therefore parked elsewhere, often creating obstructions on our narrow village roads. It’s a shame, as the money helps maintain the facility we provide for the use of all villagers. On this occasion it was felt necessary to prevent the many visiting cars clogging the village streets.
We’d also like to thank Matt Jones for organising the cars within the limited space, and Lydbrook Athletic Football Club, as overflow cars also parked on the marked-out football field on this occasion.
As many of you will know, the Athletics Club is constructing an extension to their club premises in the basement of the hall. The hall committee has been offered the opportunity to similarly extend the hall by the same amount. We are short of space for storage and for more intimate meetings for small groups, and we have accepted this generous offer.
The work is being done by volunteers and is progressing well. Decisions about the precise use for the upper floor will be made by the committee once the outer structure is finalised. A number of ideas have been suggested and we will be discussing these over the coming months. We hope to make usage of the hall more flexible and attractive once the work has been completed.
Miriam Paris ran a Jumble Sale in the Memorial Hall yesterday, 6th April 2024. It was run to raise funds for Dementia and managed to gather over £1,000.00 for the fund.
The items available were all well organised and sold at bargain prices.
It was very well attended.
There was a raffle with a good range of prizes and there were cakes served with coffee or tea for anyone with £1.00 to spare. And I can tell you those cakes were really delicious!
Let’s hope we can host more of these events for the village.
The Fire Exit door was in poor condition, with some rot at the bottom. This has now been repaired and the door re-painted.
Many of the fence panels along Church Road have been damaged over the years. The one above shows the sort of damage that has occurred.
Above is one of many of these panels currently undergoing repairs. A good number have now been repaired and resited. The inclement weather has slowed down this operation. We’re hoping to get the new panels painted over the next few weeks to improve the appearance and resilience of the fence.
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