Produced
by the Residents Association
PRATTS BOTTOM
VILLAGE NEWS
November/December 2009
The decorations and cards have
been in the shops for weeks so we can presume that Christmas is not far
away! Once again Pratts Bottom has a
full diary of events from village organisations leading up to the celebrations
so the weeks ahead can be filled with a variety of entertainments.
I hope you will be able to join in with some of them and meet up with old friends and maybe make some new ones! Start with the Christmas Market on 28th November in the Village Hall.
Gwyneth Hudson
Dates for your diary
|
Before 1st December |
Get tickets for All Souls Quiz |
|
|
28th November |
Christmas Market |
Village Hall |
|
1st December |
Tickets for Pantomime on sale |
|
|
5th December |
Quiz |
|
|
6th December |
Lights on the tree |
|
|
11th December |
School Fair |
|
|
13th December |
Nativity and gift service |
|
|
16th December |
Carol singing round the village |
|
|
20th December |
Carols by candlelight |
|
Residents Association
Annual General Meeting review
The Chairman Keith Bickers offered condolences on
behalf of residents of the village to the family of Violette
Hayward, a long standing resident of the village.
The committee was represented at the Bromley Council
planning seminar held in November 2008. The Chairman attended the London
Mayor’s first Question Time held in Bromley in October 2008 and raised
questions concerning the speed of traffic along the A21 and the frequency of
the R5/R10 bus service. Our guest on the
night, James Cleverly, GLA Member for Bromley and Bexley, said that on the
latter, the reply was that passenger numbers did not justify any changes to the
service at present. Transport for London
have speed restriction plans for the A21 between Hewitt’s roundabout and Stonehouse Lane and implementations will take place once
costings have been agreed. The committee
will follow this up with James Cleverly.
Mr Cleverly gave an overview of his role on the GLA
and confirmed that in spite of strong opposition, the A& E Unit at Queen
Mary’s Sidcup was to close, putting additional strain on hospitals in Lewisham,
The committee successfully got the council to do
some tidying up in ‘Fox Wood’ and provide additional ‘dog mess’ bins around the
village. The committee urges all dog
owners in the vicinity to use these facilities.
Committee member Mel Turtell is keen to set up
a ‘Friends of Pratts Bottom Group’ to keep communal areas of the village
tidy. If you would like to support this,
please let me know so that I can pass your name on to Mel.
The committee, on behalf of all residents, thanked
the May Fete committee for the great job they did this year.
No further information was available regarding the
proposed development at
The Chairman reminded everyone that Sue Short was
launching her book on the ‘History of Pratts Bottom’ on 3rd October and urged
as many as possible to support this event.
Finally, the chairman thanked the committee, local
councillors, the Police Community Support Team and all
the residents for their support over the year.
Keith Bickers
Chairman PB Residents Association
The committee members named in the last Newsletter
were all re-elected with the exception of Thelma Jones who stood down. The
Chairman thanked her for her contribution to the committee.
Last year the Association produced a Pratts Bottom
Calendar. This year it’s a tea towel with pictures drawn by Alan Wheeler. It’s
very pretty and almost too good to use in the kitchen! It will also be lighter
to post to your friends far and wide.
They will be on sale at the Christmas Market or from Gwyneth Hudson 01689 858583.
Cost is a modest £3.00.
Christmas
Market
Come along to the Village Hall on Saturday 28th
November at 10.30am for a cup of coffee provided by the WI and then spend time
looking at all the goods for sale on the stalls — especially the new tea
towels, tombola, cards and of course a raffle.
All the money raised will of course be added to the
Village Hall funds to further improve the facilities.
We are in full swing at the start of the new
academic year and we enjoyed a lovely Harvest Festival in
On Friday 11th December, everyone is invited to join
our annual Christmas Fair and
Our Christmas Nativity in
Janice Box, Headteacher
The tree has grown so much this year and has lots of
cones which will be joined by lights and decorations on SUNDAY 6th DECEMBER at
4.30pm.
This is the third year for this event and we look
forward to you joining us to sing carols around the tree and enjoy some mulled
wine/soft drinks and perhaps a mince pie!
Last year there was a great crowd so hopefully it will be even bigger
this year.
There will be a collection bucket for donations.
All
Our annual quiz is on 5th December at the Village
Hall. As usual there are tables of 8 so
take pot luck or get your friends organised and book before 1st December
(858840). Tickets are £8.00 and there
will be a pasta supper.
Christmas brings a full calendar to All Souls and
you will receive a Christmas card from us listing the services but, to note
now:-
- The Nativity and Gift service is on Sunday 13th December. We are supporting Bromley Welcare over Christmas. If you would like to bring unwrapped new
toys. They will be distributed to under privileged families within our
Borough.
- There will be Carol Singing around the village on 16th
December. Meet up at 7.00pm at the
Village Store and we shall finish at the Bulls Head.
- Carols by Candlelight will be on 20th December at 6.30pm.
- The Crib Service is at 4.00pm on Christmas Eve followed by the first
communion of Christmas at 11.00pm.
On Christmas Day the service is at 10.30am.
We are being green again this year and sending an
‘All Souls/Village Card’. In other words
there will be an opportunity for people to send a communal card to friends
within the church and village, which will be displayed in All Souls. A donation to Bromley Welcare
may be made to reflect all the cards, labour and shoe leather you have saved.
The All Souls New Year Lunch will be held after the
service on 10th January. You will be
very welcome.
Book
Launch
The launch of Sue Short’s book on ‘Pratts Bottom A Journey through Life’ was a great success. The Village
Hall was crowded with people from far and wide as well as those who still live
in the village. Sue sold 200 books on
the day and has since sold all the rest that were published. It’s a fascinating chronicle of people’s
memories of events that happened in the past and more recently and definitely a
book that you dip into and recognise places and people. It is the result of 4 years work for Sue of
collecting information and photographs and collating it.
Sue will be at the Christmas Market and those who
would be interested in ordering the second edition, a soft back version, should
speak to her so that she can determine demand.
She has been interviewed by several newspapers and
on Radio
Pratts
Bottom Dramatic Society
After a successful production of “An Evening with
Noel Coward” in October, the Society are looking
forward to their next venture, the annual pantomime. This year it is The Pied Piper.
We are looking for some new members to join the
pantomime. We need people to help sing and dance in the chorus. It is great
fun. We rehearse on Mondays and Wednesdays at the URC and everyone is welcome. Please contact Debbie if you are interested
on 01689 860792.
The pantomime is on Thursday 21st, Friday 22nd and
Saturday 23rd January at 8pm every evening and a 2pm Matinee on Saturday. Tickets
cost £5.00 on Thursday and £7.00 for adults on Friday and Saturday and £5.00
for concessions. Box office opens on 1st December 07599811516.
100
Club Winners
September
1st Keith Bickers, 2nd Vicky Smith, 3rd Marguerite Larwood
October
1st Chris & Angela Hudson, 2nd Lance Johnson,
3rd Alex Lambert
November
1st Chris & Alan Clowes,
2nd Graham Westwood, 3rd Helen Coomber
100
Club
Some of the newer residents may wonder about the 100
club winners in the Newsletter. The club
was started to raise funds for the Village Hall in order to update the facilities. It runs from January to December and costs
£2.00 per month payable in one instalment of £24.00p. There are 3 prizes per month with larger
amounts payable in June and December.
Some residents have moved on so there will be a few numbers available
for 2010. There are over 400 houses in
the village so we should be able to fill the book. Please contact 858583 if you would like to
take part.
The money raised so far has
been used to improve the flooring, curtains, decorations, roofing and other
necessary repairs as well as some money towards the garden area which has been
organised by the Pre-School.
Challenge
In October Helen Comber and Lance and Brenda Johnson
went to
We were able to make a real difference and , alongside our Kenyan hosts, we built a two room house
from foundations to roof level (using the local granite!) Normally it takes three weeks to achieve what
we did in 5 days and we also renovated two other properties.
The friendship and care we were shown in the
Brenda Johnson
Friends
of Pratts Bottom
Mel Turtell is suggesting
that a group of like minded people could get together and when the need arises
tidy up areas of the village, checking on footpaths, planting bulbs etc. He will suggest a date to meet, in the
future, when volunteers can meet on a walk around the village and see what is
required. There are already some
volunteers from the AGM but the more the merrier so if you are interested in
being involved please contact Keith Bickers. We understand the council will give
some form of support.
Congratulations
to:
Liz Turnbull who, this
month, is the proud first time grandmother of two granddaughters, not twins but
cousins.
Biggin
Hill Heritage Centre, an update.
A while ago Councillor Bloomfield informed us of
proposals for a Battle of Britain Heritage Centre in Biggin Hill. The Planning
Application came before the Planning Committee in April and was addressed by
Gordon Wright from the supporters club and Councillor Bloomfield and other
councillors. The final result was a
unanimous decision to grant planning permission.
The next stage is, of course, the exciting part with
architect’s drawings, business plans and, of course, the fund raising.
Councillor Bloomfield says: “Anyone
will be welcome to help get this project ’off the ground’, whether they live in
the area, have an interest in aviation or have a connection with the RAF. If
you would like to get involved in fund raising, or simply want to help out in
some capacity, it will go a long way towards the ultimate success of the Centre.”
The
Pratts Bottom Model Railway Society Exhibition
The first show after Christmas in the village is on
the weekend of 9th/10th January at the Village Hall from 10am to 5pm each day.