The coffee morning for grit bins in Abbotsbury was a huge success. Nigel Melville tells me that £200 was raised in 90 minutes! He would like to thank everyone who came along, some generous corporate donations and provisional offers from - in alphabetical order – Abbotsbury Beachcombers, Abbotsbury Tourism, ATTA, Friends of St Nicholas Church, Hastoe Housing Association, Magna Housing Association and Raglan Housing Association and that we can now look forward to seeing all 10 of the Abbotsbury bins in place ready for whatever the winter holds.

All this week the Christmas trees are starting to be lit in the village. We hope they won’t get too damaged by the strong winds. We always look forward to the gradual decoration of Abbotsbury and by Christmas it will look beautiful, as always. There are carol services at all the churches in the parish, so check your local notice board for details. In Abbotsbury the children from Portesham Primary School will be brought from school to attend their Christmas assembly on 15th December at St Nicholas church at 1.30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend and there will be refreshments afterwards. The main carol service in St Nicholas will be on 18th December at 7.15pm. Again everyone is welcome and there will be mince pies and mulled wine to share after the service.

Finally, I would like to report about the film night and meal evening, which took place at Strangways hall on 19th November. The evening meal was made by chef Alasdair Marshall. Starters of crab were served on either samosa or tomato, this was followed by a beef, chicken or vegetable curry served with rice. Barbara Laurie tells me that, despite a few teething problems with electricity, the film was enjoyable. The audience was plunged into darkness several times, owing to confusion over the card meter, so Barbara and Peter would like to apologise and thank everyone for their tolerance. The new speaker system has made a difference to the sound quality and several people asked if this could be a regular event. Barbara says that it could be possible with more help setting up, with food and film choices etc. So anyone out there with ideas and energy should contact us either at 01305 871532 or 871520.

That’s it for now, so don’t forget to tell me of your events, especially in the run up to Christmas.