Archive for month: January, 2018

Our December meeting was cancelled due to thick snow, so we held the planned social evening in January instead. Flower expert Elaine Partridge, our President, presented a spectacular arrangement of lilies, roses, carnations and chrysanthemums in cheerful shades of cream, yellow and pink to former President Christine Jones in a belated celebration of her 90^th birthday, together with sparkling wine and a splendid rich fruit cake. Mrs Jones also won the annual cup for the most points amassed in the monthly competitions over the year. She was obviously on a roll that day as she even received a prettily wrapped mug for winning a round of the hilarious Beetle Drive which everyone enjoyed although some of our younger members had never played it before. New member Maureen Lindsay had  the highest score in the  Beetle Drive with Beverley Fathers second. Committee member Jane Mills produced an exquisitely- wrapped parcel for a game of ‘Pass the Parcel’, complete with a gold chocolate coin in each layer and a forfeit to be performed every time the music stopped. Mal Downes eventually opened the final parcel which revealed a smart notebook and pen as her prize.

Members enjoyed hearing Elaine Partridge read out the modern poem she had recited at the Group Carol Service in December, ‘Three Camel-Riding Kings’ by John Yates, in which the writer bemoans the difficulty in finding a Christmas card linked to the Nativity story, amid endless Santas, elves and robins. These were the final verses:

“The bible doesn’t mention kings; it calls them all wise men

It does not say what number came; it could be up to ten

There’s no mention of a camel or if he had a mate,

They missed the Christmas party and arrived some two weeks late

The fact is that we don’t know much about the three wise men.

They went back where they came from and were never seen again.

Forget commercial Christmas cards and carol story stuff

Just stick to what the bible says, you’ll find it’s quite enough”.

Members paid their annual subscriptions of £41 and received the programme for the year. At our next meeting, February 13^th, the speaker will give a talk on the work of the RNLI, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the competition is for a Valentine cup-cake. At the March meeting we will be having “Fun with Antiques” and seeing how accurately we can value a range of samples. The competition will be for a bowl of bulbs grown by a member. On March 22^ndColeshill hosts the Group Meeting of local WIs with entertainment from the versatile Dave Moylan with his One-Man Variety Show of music, singing and dancing. This year we hope to welcome more people to our friendly and varied meetings at the Town Hall on the second Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm.Visitors welcome as always.

As some of you will already be aware, the CASPER (Coleshill Art Space Project – Everyone Respects) campaign to raise funds for a statue in Coleshill, has reached its original crowd funding target for the project to go ahead.  You can find out more information about the Project and funding so far on www.spacehive.com/casper.  We now need to keep the donations open so the art piece can get “Bigger, Better and Brighter”!  The difference now is that any contributions can come directly to the Town Hall office rather than through crowd funding.

We can really showcase our heritage and character as an Historic Market and Coaching Town.  Coleshill has Roman history, a Doomsday Book reference, and market charter granted by King John as well as coaching town and highwayman folklore.

The Project has already generated a great deal of discussion on Social Media; initial consultations and straw polls have shown a leaning of public opinion towards the theme of “Highwayman and Stagecoach” but we are continuing to gather your ideas through other means, such as competitions at schools; making sure that everyone has a chance to share their views and ideas towards a lasting monument to our great and resilient town.  Nothing is decided for definite on the design as we have yet to see all the school children designs and speak to artists about materials and what is possible.  Also, some people have suggested combining more than one of the themes discussed, which is an option.  There are further opportunities for you to express ideas of what we can achieve, as a whole community, and to display the pride we have in our town and its history.

We are also keen to hear from any local artists, sculptors or historians who would like to contribute thoughts and ideas to the project team.  We welcome any contact from business or individuals that would like to get involved in the Project as we move forward with a working group.

In keeping with the spirit of Coleshill, we want our statue to continue as a curiosity and talking point, bringing people in; increasing footfall and taking advantage of our location in terms of tourist interest. These have been key features in attracting funding that could not be allocated to some of the other things that have been mentioned on social media, raising ongoing concerns regarding parking, litter and the need for public toilets which are County and Borough issues, over which we have no control or remit!

Without detracting from the importance of the issues that have been raised, we are keen to continue with fundraising so that the statue will be a testament to the best we can achieve as a town and community. For further information, you can contact:

megan@coleshilltowncouncil.gov.uk

Tel: 01675 463 326 or contact us through our social media pages.

Please continue to support the project and keep on giving so that we can be the best we can be as a place on the map to visit, stay and frequent local businesses. We will be organising a public launch event.  This will now be later than the originally proposed date (of late January) but we will keep everyone informed of our progress.

Keep talking about CASPER and spreading the news!