FROME VALLEY History Society has organised a morning visit on Monday, April 22 to Minterne House and Gardens, Minterne Magna near Dorchester (on the Dorchester to Sherborne Road, 2 miles north of Cerne Abbas). There will be a guided tour of the house by Hon. Henry Digby or Lord Digby. Coffee and biscuits will be served, followed by a walk in the garden, which should be at its colourful best.

Please meet in the car park outside the gates at 10.15am, ready for a 10.30am tour. The fee will be £14.

The society’s May meeting will be a visit to the Royal Signals Museum in Blandford. Further enquiries should be made to to John Darneley on 01935 83347 STICKLANDS School in Evershot will be holding an Auction of Promises at Aelfric Hall, Hooke Court, on Saturday, April 27 (7pm for a 7.30pm sit down). Tickets cost £10 to include a home cooked 2-course meal with a choice of lovely puddings! There will also be a bar available. There are over £1500 worth of promises / goods to be auctioned by a local professional auctioneer. You can check the website to see what is on offer (dorset.schooljotter.com/sticklands/swimming+pool) Unfortunately, there are no credit card facilities, so you need to come along with a cheque book or cash.

The night promises to be a fun social event and children are welcome.

Tickets are available from Evershot Village Shop, the Acorn Inn, the Fox at Corscombe and Halstock Village Shop.

Please contact Di Powne (01935 83695), Nancy Castle (01935 83758) or Shelley Potter (01935 83839) to register your interest, reserve a table, offer assistance or to simply find out more information.

STRATTON Church Spring Clean takes place from 10am on Saturday, April 27.

Do come along and help to clean up the church and churchyard. The more helpers there are, the sooner the work will be done! Please help further by bringing dusters, polish and gardening tools along if possible. Coffee and home made cakes will be available throughout the morning as an incentive to all the helpers.

STRATTON and Bradford Peverell Ladies Thursday Group warmly invite you to their Annual Coffee Morning on Saturday, April 27 in Bradford Peverell Village Hall. The event takes place between 10.30am and midday. There will be a raffle, cakes, a garden stall and bric-a-brac.

Proceeds will go to The Samaritans and other charities supported by the group during the year. Admission costs £1 to include refreshments.

MELBURY Osmond Garden and Show Society will hold their annual Plant Swap on the corner between the church and the Old Rectory on Saturday, May 4 between 10.30am and noon. Do come along to bring, buy and barter spare seedlings and saplings!

DORSET Knob Throwing and Frome Valley Food Festival take place on Sunday, May 5 on Cattistock Football Field between 10am and 4pm. Admission is £2.50, free for under 12’s. The food festival will include stalls, demonstrations and sampling, as well as local crafts and skills.

The numerous Dorset Knob activities include knob throwing, knob and spoon race and the knob eating contest. For more information, you can visit www.dorsetknobthrowing.com or contact Nigel or Shelley Collins on 01300 320404 or info@dorsetknobthrowing.com FOR ANY new people to the area or those who have so far not enrolled as a member of COGS (Chimes Oil Group Syndicate), do please consider joining the group.

You will find that you will save a lot of money on heating oil. The next oil order will be on Friday, May 10.

Please telephone only on that date for your oil requirements or email prior to that date and be as accurate as possible in terms of the amount of oil to be delivered.

Oil is normally delivered within the following 10 working days. Please ensure that all details given are correct and that you will be available for contacting on the Monday afternoon following the oil order date in order to be given the information to enable you to deal with payments.

There is an annual charge of £12 to cover expenses. Please make cheques payable to Mrs S-J Emm and send to Sea Breeze, 6 Lym Close, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3DE. Sally-Jane’s phone number is 01297 444347 and the email address is cogs2009@hotmail.co.uk THERE will be a coffee morning in Melbury Osmond Village Hall in aid of Hug-a-Baby on Saturday, May 11 from 10am to midday.

Stalls will include cakes, a raffle and lots of bedding plants. Teas, coffees and toasted teacakes will be served.