Events this weekend

With the Discover festival in full swing, there are a number of local events this weekend.

St Saviour's Church is having an open doors weekend, open 10am-4pm on Saturday and 11am-3pm on Sunday (plus services at 8am, 10am and 6pm). There will be children's activities all day Saturday and they will be doing a short walk to St Peter's Frampton Cotterell starting at 1.30pm to raise money for the Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust. Afterwards you can have a cup of tea at St Peter's and walk to Bridge House where the trains will be running (50p per ride).

On Sunday the Friends of Ram Hill Colliery are holding an open day from 10am to 4.30pm. You can tour the remains of the 19th century coal mine, visit the woodland area, Dramway connection, engine house and horse gin. Refreshments are provided and there is wheelchair access to most of the site. Sensible footwear recommended. For more information see www.ramhillcolliery.org.uk

Slightly further afield, Winterbourne Medieval Barn and Winterbourne Parish Church are opening their doors on both 12 and 13 September (2pm to 5pm). The church is located next door to the Medieval Barn, so offers a great opportunity to view both buildings in one visit.

For more Discover 2015 events, see www.southglos.gov.uk/discover

1950s themed Summer Fayre

St Saviour's Church is having its Summer Fayre on Saturday 27th June from 2-4:30pm. The theme is 1950’s – why not come dressed in your 1950’s finery!They will be having a (planned) visit from Yate Fire Brigade, plant sale, ballet show, model boats, games, tea and cakes and more!

Could you help cut the grass at St Saviour's?

We've received the following plea from St Saviour's Church:

Trevor has been cutting the grass at St Saviour’s Church (Coalpit Heath) for the last 23 years as a volunteer. This is a big job, taking about 7 hours a week in the summer. He has to carefully strim round all the graves, but it is job that Trevor has taken great pride in doing for the benefit of the whole community. In February he was advised by his doctor that sadly it was time to give it up. The church has been looking for a volunteer since then, but so far no-one has come forward. The grass is currently being cut by a paid gardener.

Trevor has done a fantastic job; it is well known that St Saviour’s Churchyard always looks fantastic and to have kept up such a good job for so long is brilliant. Thanks Trevor.

If you can volunteer to help with some of the cutting or would like to help towards the cost of maintaining the churchyard, then please contact Andy on 01454 882867.

Find out more about our mining past - and more

The upcoming South Glos Discover Festival includes several opportunities to find out more about our mining past.

On Saturday 13 Sept 2014 from 2pm to 5pm and Sunday14 Sept 2014 from 11am to 3.30 pm the South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group will be holding open days at Oldwood Pits, Tanhouse Lane, Rangeworthy, BS37 7PZ. There will be guided tours of the colliery site remains, a display of local mining artefacts and refreshments. For more information please contact: Mrs J. Humphris at Oldwood Pits Telephone: 01454 228160

Also on Sunday 14th September, from 10am to 4.30pm there will be an opportunity to tour the remains of Ram Hill Colliery, including the woodland area and the remains of the Dramway engine house and horse gin.

Nearby St Saviour's Church will be holding open days from 11am to 1pm on Friday 12th September, 10am to 3pm on Saturday 13th September and 10.30am to 3pm on Sunday 14th September.


For more events, covering creative, heritage, nature, health and food topics, please go to the Discover Festival pages on the South Glos website.

St Saviour's Church Hall improvements

This weekend St Saviour's Church Hall was opened up to the public so people could see the improvements they have made and find out more about their plans for the future.

A new, lower insulated ceiling has been installed in the main hall, to cut heating bills and keep the room warmer. The side room, used by a toddler group among others, has new carpet, cupboards and blinds. This was partly funded by some of the money allocated to Westerleigh ward from the balance left when the council houses were transferred to Merlin. They are still fundraising for further improvements.

Westerleigh councillor Claire Young also had a chance to see the newly serviced clock mechanism in the tower. The Frome Vale Area Forum made a small contribution towards this project.