Novembe r 2026

The Lydden Vale News

K nit and Knatter Poppy Project in Holy Rood Church tex t

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Pu blic at ion De adli ne: Th e d ead line for su bm issio ns is on th e 18 of ev ery mo nt h

th T ext , Ph ot ogr aph s, C om mun ity Me ssa ges , En quir ies, et c. to A ma nda at: Em ai l: ly dde nv alle y@ gma il.c om M eet ings /In ter view s: arr ang ed via em ail

L y dden V ale New s T eam E d i t o r Amanda McK enna l  y  dd  en  v  al  l  e  y@gmail.c  o  m T r easur er Vincen t McK enna Ad v e r ti s in g Ma na g er Al a n Si mmo ns All en qu i ri e s a nd a dv er ts t o : l  y  dd  en  v  al  ea  dv  er  ts  @gm  ail.c  o  m R eports/ Articles/Int erviews

l y dden v al l e y @ gmail.c om

W h at a stunning front cover we have this month. I was fortunate enough to go to The Tower of London in 2014, when they had the ceramic Poppy installation and it took your breath away and, c o nsequently, I bought one of the poppies when they sold them at the end of the event. The crochet/knitted poppies in Holy Rood Church remind me of that – very clever and beautifully done (See pages 12 and 13). Hopefully this months’ LVN is error free, but as I am using different software to produce this, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that there will be the odd mistake. It’s a work in p r ogress!! Keep safe and enjoy Bonfire Night and, of course, be mindful of animals in the vicinity when letting off Fireworks. Always a good idea to give neighbours a heads-up. Amanda ___________________________________________________

Sa tur da y 14th No v ember 10.30 a.m. BUCKLAND NEWT ON HIS T OR Y GR OUP – P ARISH P A VILION The next meeting of the History Group will be at 10.30 am on the 14th November at the Pa rish Pavi lion. All are welcome. The History Group is now up and run ning with approximately a dozen members interested in researching an d archiving the history of Buckland Newton. The long-term a im is to publish the results, perhaps as a book, series of books or on-line. If you have looked into any aspects ab out the history of the parish or have any relevant old photos, documents, d eeds, etc. about Buckland Newton that you would be willing to share, please contact us. Andy Waring at andywaring12 @gmail.com or John Baker at johnbaker386@outlook.com _ __________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________ _

Tuesday 17th November 1 pm - 2.30 p m BUCKLAND NEWTON CAR SCHEME ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - BUCKLAND NEWTON VILLAG E H A L L (See page 6 for details ) ______________________________________________________________________________________ _

Saturday 5th December 10 am - 12 p m CHRISTMAS FAYRE - HOLY ROOD CHURCH, BUCKLAND NEWTON (See page 21) ___________________________________________________________________________________ _

Friday 20th November 8 pm LINE DANCING - THE GAGGLE OF GEESE (See page 9) __________________________________________________________________________________ _

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A REMINDER FOR THOSE PEOPLE ALREADY GETTING PREPARED . THE BUCKLAND NEWTON CHARITY CHRISTMAS CARD WILL AGAIN BE AT TH E VILLAGE SHOP THIS YEAR . Last year you all raised just over a marvellous £400 for Weldmar Hospice and the Dorset & Somerset Ai r Ambulance which now adds up to an amazing total of £2,424.41 since the first card at Christmas 2020. Ca n we possibly achieve the £3,000 point this year ? For those Newcomers the idea of the card is to avoid trudging all around the village an d out lying properties, in all weathers, delivering individual cards and at the same tim e supporting our local much needed charities. With the kind cooperation of Sue & Pete, w e can all sign a large card at the Village Shop leaving a donation in the provided box. A list o f well wishers will be regularly updated on the Buckland Newton Facebook page . From Tuesday 1st. December this year’s card (or two) will be available to sign at The Ol d Chapel Stores . For any further information please contact Maree 01300 34534 9

Christmas Functions - December – we are takin g bookings for Christmas functions & groups acros s December. Limited dates left. Menu on our website . Get in touch if you have a date in mind . _________________________________________ _

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Wow ! Wha t an ama zing sigh t the pop py wal l hanging is in Holy Rood Ch urch, it is the mos t wonde rful trib ute to o ur arme d force s for th eir sacri fice durin g the Fir st and S econd W orld W ars and subseq uent co nflicts w here th ey hav e been involv ed. Whe n the Kn it & Nat ter ladie s first a pproac hed me a bout this project I had no idea of the exte nt they would go to, may be they didn’t ei ther! Ho wever they ha ve ex celled th emselve s in their handiw ork and dedica tion, it is s uch a spec ial tribut e. Do ple ase go a nd see the popp ies, they will be t here fo r some w eeks to come. Holy Rood is o pen daily from a bout 9am until 5. Than k you la dies. Car ol

Reporting Issues W ith FOOTP  A  THS OR BRIDLE-P  A  THS Stephen White, as a Rights of W ay Liaison Officer fortheDorset Coast & Countryside Service, investigates any is su e s wi th in th e pa ri sh of B u ck la nd Newto n, re po r tin g to D or se t Count y Counc il. H is co n ta ct n um b er s ar e 0 13 0 0 34 5 43 1 or 0 77 7 3 2 8 37 6 4 If yo u p re fe r to r ep o rt iss u es d ire c tly to t he c ou n ci l,y ou c an do so by c all in g 01 3 05 2 2 44 6 3 or on li ne a t www .mapping.dorsetf oryou.gov .uk/ rightsofway/reportprob lem/

In a d ua l ti me line st ory , 57- ye ar- old Lar a, tel ls h er thr ee tw ent y-s om et hin g d au ght er s, a bo ut tha t s um me r. T he su mm e r sh e p lay ed th e p art of Em ily in Th orn ton W ild er’s cl ass ic p lay , O ur To wn . T he su mm er sh e h ad a ro ma nc e w ith Du ke , h er co-a ct or w ho la ter be cam e a h ug e s tar In the Bu ck lan d N ew to n B ook Co rn er. La ra  rem em b ers th ose da ys as th e g old en da ys of y ou th wh en an yth ing se em ed po ssi ble . As we f lip be twe en pa st an d p res en t, t he fam ily p icks th e s we et ch erri es, an d t he tar t f eeli ngs ar e e xp lor ed and in sig hts ab ou t lif e, lo ve, an d t he de cisi ons we m ak e a re sha re d. T he re are so me su rp risi ng rev ela tio ns alo ng the w ay , w ith wa rm m edi tat ion s on m ar riag e and ch ild ren an d l ov e in al l its gu ise s. Th is is a qu iet , s ubt le sto ry abo ut ch ildr en ’s f asc ina tio n w ith th eir pa ren ts’ pa sts , a nd wh at par en ts c ho ose to te ll – and w hen . L ara em ba rk s on te llin g h er st ory , “K no win g full we ll t hat th e p art s th ey ’re w aiti ng to he ar a re th e pa rts I’m n ev er goi ng to tel l th em ”. J us t as sh e is p icki ng the ch err ies fro m the tr ees , L ara 'ch err y p ick s' w hi ch de ta ils of h er pa st to sha re wit h h er dau gh te rs, and w hic h p ain fu l or co mp lica te d tr uth s to l ea ve out . T his is w arm ly an d s kilfu lly do ne , so th at by th e e nd the gir ls a cce pt th e s tor y t he y a re g ive n. Th e i nte ra ctio ns re vea l o the r in te rge ne rat ion al i ssu es too . T he girl s ch all eng e Lar a w he n s he use s w ha t is to th em “p olit ica lly inc orr ect ” la ngu ag e. Wh en sh e in tro du ces he r u nd ers tu dy , w ho is a lso a d an cer , L ara de scr ibe s he r “ pre po ste ro us” le gs b ut is qu ickly cr itic ised fo r “ ob jec tify ing ” h er. An d, wh en she d esc ribe s D uk e’ s “c raz ine ss” , s he is i nte rru pt ed ag ain an d t old sh e c an’ t u se wo rds lik e “ cra zy ” or “ nut s” or “ ins an e” . Th ey ’re “p ejo rat ive ”. She sh ou ld onl y u se his “d iag nos is” an d o nly if he did n’t m ind . T hes e a re we ll o bs erv ed int era cti ons th at mir ror th e s ort of con v ers atio ns m any of us ar e h av ing as we n avi ga te m o der n s en sibi litie s. Pat ch ett ha nd les th em wi th gra ce and g ene ro sity – not to me nt ion a l ov ely tou ch of hu mo ur . If yo u p ref er fas t p ac ed no vel s w ith gri tty dr am a th en th is may n ot be for yo u, bu t I f ind Pa tc he tt’s w ritin g a m ast er clas s in h ow to te ll a goo d sto ry. He r n ov els ar e kn ow n for ble nd ing de ep hu ma n em pat hy , a cce ssib le ye t ric h p ro se, an d a fo cus on e ver yd ay kin dn ess an d h um an co nn ect ion . So m eth ing th is w or ld n ee ds no w m o re th an ev er. Ka re n W hi ter

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IN THE BU CKLAND NEW TON BOO K CORNER I wa s keen to read another Ann Pa tchett novel following my enj oyment of ‘Whis tler’ ov er the su mmer. A colleag ue rec ommende d this on e – ‘Tom Lake’ – and I found, when I r ead the Goodrea ds rev iews (m y ’go t o’ for in format ion on pros pective future r eads) th at it ha s in the p ast rec eived m ixed re views, with some criticism of its slow pace a nd lack of drama . Howe ver, oth er Pat chett f ans wer e more positive and so I decided to give it a go. S ometime s a quie t, ref lective n ovel is just wha t you n eed. I w as not d isappoin ted. Ret urning to the Mic higan fa mily far m in the spring an d summe r of 202 0, the wor ld having seemingl y ground to a h alt due to the Glo bal pand emic, Emi ly, Maisi e and Ne ll help th eir par ents Lar a and Jo e Nelson with the cherry harves t. Whils t the wo rld is in c haos, the farm is quiet a nd peace ful. The cherry picking is de scribed as a back breakin g physic al labou r and as a medit ative c ommuna l ritual . To ser ve as a distrac tion, the g irls ask th eir mothe r about the summ er when , as a y oung wo man, she had a r omance with a m an who would b ecome a fa mous mo vie star ……

Acros s 1. Very good cro p for a cushion (6) 4. One going to pot g etting into ho t water (6) 9. Old copper found on M onopoly Board with sm uggler (3,6,6) 10.Bask in g lory? Including a ques tion (6) 11. Depend on holding a little money lately (8) 12. Game bird flutter ing around soap loca tion (8) 14. Consuming tea and gin cocktail (6) 15. Causes trouble f or diners (6) 18. U S oilmen spill paint (8) 21. Peer at duck/hare hybrid (8) 22. Ref is a bit plump I reckon ( 6) 24. Famous thesp messed up “I value nicer role” (8,7) 25. Gives in and retur ns (6) 26. A fancy Prussian holds another c ountry (6) Down 1. Flourish a s hip in flower (7) 2. Footballer sounds untidy (5) 3. Saw r ed over a green de lta (7) 5. In Kor ea Rachel had a drum problem (7) 6. Promis ing pieces of paper financially (9) 7. Mechanic al problem caused by girl involved with m en (7) 8. Ravine g ets point of Prince ( 6) 13. Stable c ompetitor (9) 16. Dear lady s adly losing 500 by t his time (7) 17. Numbed naug hty nun hugged by Saint Edward (7) 18. By the sound of it setter allowed a hole (6) 19. Americ a has posh friend most of the time (7) 20. Headless big pig minus no paddles ( 7) 23. Man in the street with a flag (5)

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Dear Friends , As we enter November, the season of Remembrance, my mind is drawn to the Poppies. Not the ones in Flander s fields which blow, row on row . Rather it is their modern incarnation in crocheted wool . For some years they have graced the Memorial on the green in front of St Mary’s Cerne. This year they tumbl e in a cascade from the rood loft stair in Holy Rood, Buckland Newton. They fall and flow all the way down to th e floor. It is a sight worth a visit. Both churches are open to you every day thanks to our volunteer lockers an d un-lockers. I am very grateful to them . The striking thing to the eye about these poppies is the vibrancy of so many different shades of red. Each popp y is individually hand-made, formed with concentration, thought and skill, and utterly unique. It is this individua l variation which makes the whole assemblage shimmer with warmth . That is a happy fact, because what we come to remember is not an agglomeration of identical units, o f numbered individuals in common uniform. We come to remember unique human beings, each with a contex t and a place. We come to remember persons, each having relationships and loves with others each with a lovin g heart and mind . Traditionally we remember those who gave their lives in the past. In this our current situation of widesprea d and dreadful threat and conflict, seemingly devoid of any real purpose or meaning, we must inevitabl y remember those stood under arms today, at this moment, guarding with their lives their nation, their culture , their families and all they hold dear . It feels to me that never in my life have I been so aware of the fragility of international order, of the rule of la w which protects us all. This Remembrance I shall be praying for our own Armed Services, looking for their nation’ s support and resourcing to meet the challenges and expectations we lay before them . Jonatha n _________________________________________________________________________________________ _