Puddletown

  • CHILDREN at the First School have spent Arts Week learning how they could look after the planet and make the world a better place to live in.

I popped in to see how all the projects and crafts they had been involved in, and saw all the many decorative and useful things they had been making out of junk items.

Year 4 were making insect habitats by cutting short strips of bamboo and bundling them together.

These will be hung up in the new conservation area created at the western side of the school.

The children have also made bird feeders for this area, using inverted plastic bottle necks filled with bird seed set in lard.

Year 3 were involved in activities with members of Dorset Wildlife Trust in the conservation area on Friday morning.

The area will be developed into a wild flower, bird and insect area. and had an arch decorated by the children leading from area to another.

Beatrice Green in Year 1 came up with the name butterfly bus-stop for this arch.

Year 2 were busy working on designs for flags which will be displayed and judged for a competition at the coming carnival coffee morning in the village hall on July 4.

They had also been making puppets from discarded socks, and printing tee-shirts with designs that they had created on the computer.

Year 1 children were having great fun too making coconut heads from papier mache and sock puppets.

I was just in time to see the Reception class children go out into the garden to judge their scarecrow competition. A colourful and ingenious addition to the garden was a selection of old shoes, used as planters for flowers.

There were also two Change the World walks around the village, when the children wore banners they had designed, and were accompanied by a junk band.

On the last afternoon of activities week, parents were invited in to see the results of all the children's efforts throughout activities week.

  • GARDENS throughout Puddletown will be open on Sunday, June 21 from 11am until 5pm.

The gardeners have been beavering away preparing their gardens for you to visit.

Coffee, light lunches and teas will be served in the village hall. There will be a display of the First School children's designs for seed packets in the Church Room, and work by Year 6 of the Middle School in the Church. The flower team will be surprising you with Unconsidered Trifles - flowers arranged in unusual containers around the Church. To round off the day, please join us for Songs of Praise at 6 pm.

  • SIMON and Ursula Pomeroy have invited us to hold the Parish Picnic once again at Duddle Farm on Sunday, June 28 from noon onwards. Bring your picnic, chairs or rugs and enjoy the countryside. The water is a great attraction for children so some spare clothes and a towel would be useful! In the unlikely event of the weather being wet, we can picnic in a barn.
  • THE pop-in coffee morning is held every Thursday from 10am to noon in the church room - everyone is very welcome.
  • THE horticultural association has an outing in July entitled The Abbotsbury Adventure.

This is a guided tour of the village of Abbotsbury and Castle Hill fort with Tim Loasby.

If you would like to make a late booking, or have mislaid your booking forms, telephone Bill Maunder on 01305 849073.

Once again, the society is sponsoring the photographic competition held at the carnival coffee morning on Saturday, July 4.

This year's title is Puddletown Weather.

Your photographs are very welcome.

Tolpuddle

  • GET your teams ready for the summer quiz night in the village hall on Friday, June 19 at 7.30pm.

Friends and neighbours from Tolpuddle, Puddletown, Southover, Affpuddle and the parish are invited along to bring teams of four.

There will be a raffle and refreshments available.

Contact Diana on 01305 848419 with details of your team, or if you can make up a team.

  • DORSET Historic Churches cycle ride will take place on Saturday, September 12.

If you do not feel like cycling, please think about offering to man the church and serve refreshments to the cyclists.

It was really nice to have the church manned last year, and we served some of the best refreshments in the area!

Contact Clare on 01305 849569 if you can help.

  • The soup and sweet lunch will be on Friday, June 19 from noon until 1.30pm.

This is the last monthly lunch until September.

A huge thank you to everyone who has helped in any way. Without such a fantastic group of helpers, we should not be able to hold the lunches, and also a huge thank you to everyone who came along to support them.