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June 2001
Our first car boot sale of the season was held on 19th May and proved to be very successful.
There were a lot of people selling and even more buying. It was probably popular because it
was the first one of the season and the weather was decent. Don't miss the next one, it will
be held on 30th June, starting at 11.30 am - keep a look out for the signs on the roadside.
The other job that should be ongoing as I write this is the refurbishment of the scramble net.
I've been told it will be started this week - just in time for half term. It is at a cost of £1,700, so I hope the youngsters enjoy it and it is well used. To make this piece of play equipment more interesting, there will be wooden climbing poles up one side of it and a "ladder" to cross the top. The scramble net will be laid on the other side and consists of rope reinforced with wire which hopefully makes it vandal proof - it's this rope that is expensive and increases the cost of the project.
To help people who hire the hall, we now have two chair trolleys and a table trolley which can
be used to carry tables and chairs to and from the storage room. Please make use of these
trolleys as they certainly make the job easier.
Caerwent Show will be held on the 1st of September this year. Preparations are well under way, and as far as I am aware, several other events will be organised by different groups
throughout that week. Although the village will not be able to match the Festival that was
held last year, hopefully, by working together, we will be able to put on an enjoyable week.
I'll keep you posted in next month's newsletter of the various events that have been
organised.
Also by the end of June the Schedule will be available for the Flower & Vegetable
Show (also on 1st September). We would like to see lots of entries this year, the flower and vegetable sections are usually well supported but we would like to see an improvement in
both the adult and junior art and craft sections. So if you cook, paint, draw, knit, sew, crochet or crossstitch please start thinking about putting an entry into the Show.
Local people still enjoy the Flower & Vegetable Show and like to see the entries on display and the judges would certainly prefer to judge from several exhibits rather than just one or two.
Please don't think your work "isn't good enough". This is a village show (that is probably getting a bit old fashioned nowadays) but it's still amazing to see the standard and variety of work that people do in their leisure time.
Yours sincerely,
Hilary Counsell
Secretary
Telephone 01291-421307
PLEASE READ ON!!
It's a little known fact that our Vice-chairman David Hedley has perfected a time machine. It's in it's development stages at the moment, however he was able to take a look at this magazine as it will be ten years in the future, and was able to retrieve the following letter...
Dear Community Magazine,
I am not a person who usually looks back, but now as I age gracefully I thought I
would return to my childhood home of Caerwent. I spent several happy years there,
and raised my family in the old Roman village. I thought it would be a good idea to
return and revive those happy memories.
How wrong could I be!
The houses still looked the same, they had weathered well, and a new generation of
children still played around the streets, and the neat and tidy gardens showed there was
still some pride left. However, what had happened to the playing fields and village
hall?
I remember my children having great fun on the swings and the slide, and climbing to the top
of the big net and running around the field. The car boot sales, football games and the
annual show. Was that weeklong millennium festival only nine years ago?
My wife and I enjoyed the line dancing and trained our dog in the excellent village
hall. But now it has all gone.
Oh yes the field was still there but I believe a block of flats is going to built, which will, probably, be better than the long grass and weeds, the litter and dog muck, the frames of the swings standing gaunt and ghost like, rusting away and lost without their swaying seats, the almost derelict village hall with its collapsed roof and broken windows.
What has happened to the community? Where is the neighbourly caring spirit? Didn't the village hall have a committee?
People from the village who gave up one evening a month and the, very, occasional half day on a weekend, who worked tirelessly on show days. Didn't they care any more? Or did the apathy of the rest of the inhabitants get to them? Did those few committee members think to themselves
perhaps no one does care what happens to the village hall and the playing fields?
Perhaps the committee thought if no one could be bothered why should we?
I will not return to my old hometown again. No more happy memories, only sadness.
Signed
A sad ex resident |
OK, David is joking - but this letter could be in the newsletter in 2010 - or even earlier - if we do not get some more volunteers. This year's village show could be the last, without some more helpers and committee members.
It doesn't take much of your time to help in some small way, perhaps only moving chairs or giving out leaflets, for example.
Ring Hilary on 421307 and ring her NOW.
Before it's too late.
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