The Parish Magazine
April '25
BERWICK ST JAMES
Welcome to Caroline Ainsworth and Moss Collins. We hope you enjoy living in Berwick.
Goodbye to Hugh McMurtrie, we are sorry you are leaving Berwick, and hope you are happy in your new life.
BARBARA LAST. Sadly Barbara died on 5th March aged 96. She will be very much missed by her family and many friends. Barbara, and her late husband Dick, lived in Berwick for many years, taking part in numerous village activities and taking much care of the village, river and farm environment. We wish to pass our condolences to her family, we are thinking of you all.
CHOCOLATE BINGO in the Reading Room.
Come along to the Reading Room on Thursday 10th April at 6pm for a fun-filled, and chocolate-filled evening of CHOCOLATE BINGO. For Children and Adults alike, the last Chocolate Bingo evening was enormous fun, as anyone lucky enough to get a ticket found out.
Watch out on WhatsApp, Facebook, village email and posters for further details of how to buy tickets etc. We will need lots of Chocolate (of all sorts)! Donations of chocolate to Jo at Appletrees, or Nicky by the eggs at Berwick Hill Farmyard. Many thanks indeed.
LENT LUNCH
We are planning our annual charity Lent lunch. It is to be held in the Reading Room on Monday 14th April between 12.00 and 2.00pm. Everyone is most welcome. Delicious homemade soups, bread, cheese and fruit will be provided free of charge.
We are supporting Naomi House Hospice for Children at Sutton Scotney and the Salisbury Hospice, both worthy charities.
This year the Lent lunch is being held in the school holidays so any adults and children are most welcome, be they from Berwick or the surrounding villages. Your support would be most gratefully received.
CHURCH NEWS
We have two services in April.
Sunday 6th April 9.30am Holy Communion.
Sunday 20th April EASTER SUNDAY 11.00. An opportunity to celebrate Easter Sunday in this Family Service and Holy Communion.
We are also delighted to be holding a private Baptism on 26th April for Tilly Miller, daughter of Harry and Rosie and granddaughter of Brian and Sally. We send our very best wishes to them all.
TEA and CAKE and CHAT in the READING ROOM
The April Chats are on Tuesdays 1st and 15th from 2.30 – 4pm, come at any time, lovely to see everyone.
The May Chats are on Tuesday 6th and 20th May. There is no charge, cakes are welcome too! We ery much welcome anyone from our other villages, and visitors too.
PLANT PRODUCE and FLOWER TABLE supporting CRUK
Hello villagers and neighbouring villages.
Well don’t know about you but it has been very much stop start, put it out bring it in I should know better, but as you gardeners know a few good days and we get carried away. My house is like Kew Gardens I am playing at musical window ledges with seed trays lol. Hope to have a few things on the table very soon so keep a look out please. By the time you read this I will have et the CEO and Treasurer of CRUK Salisbury branch at the farm shop to hand over our raised funds for 2024 they are delighted with our efforts. Copies of our certificate will be posted in the BSJ notice boards.
Weather wise well it can only get better..happy growing.
Yours Aye Christine.
THE OLD FORGE FARM SHOP
The Farm Shop will be closed on Easter Sunday 20th April.
WILDLIFE WATCH
The flock of sparrow-sized birds mentioned in last months magazine, seen at the north end of the village on farmland are identified as linnets – wonderful to see so many.
Reported a “siege” of herons at the north end of Berwick – three nests and lots of noise. Also, It would appear that the female swan from the river also at the north end has a new “younger” partner … her old and trusted partner has been given the push by the new interloper. That’s sad actually as they’ve been together for more than 17 years!!
A Great Spotted Woodpecker has been paying daily visits to a bird table in a central village garden, and in the same garden, on 21st February, a weasel was seen by the fish pond – never previously seen one in the garden.
All reports very welcome – from all our villages. Nicky Street [email protected] The Dairy House Berwick St James.
March '25
Berwick St James
CHURCH NEWS
In March we have our two usual services, with a 9.30am Holy Communion service on Sunday 2nd and a Matins at 11.00a.m on Sunday 16th.
There is also a special Ash Wednesday service for the whole Benefice at 7.00pm on Wednesday 5th March. As the roadworks between Stapleford and Berwick St James are currently scheduled from 4-6th March, leading to closure of the road until 7.00pm (perhaps later if overrunning) each day, we encourage those from other villages to approach Berwick via the A303.
A date for your diaries – we are planning a Lent lunch on Monday 14th April in the Reading Room. More details in next month’s magazine.
Church Electoral Roll. Every 6th year I am required to produce a new Church electoral Roll, and 2025 is the year! The purpose of the Roll is to be the first building block of the church’s governance structure and those on the Roll are entitled to vote at our Annual Parochial Church Meeting, which is taking place in the church on Friday 4th April. For those who are already on the Berwick Roll I will drop a new form in to you. Please fill it in and return it to me (I am very happy to collect as well). For those who wish to be on the Roll, and aren’t at present please let me know and I will drop a form in to you. You do not have to be a church goer to be on this Roll. Many thanks Ailsa Bush 01722 790445.
FURTHER ROAD CLOSURE ALERT
Temporary road closure on the B3083 from the bend before Berwick’s 2nd bridge to the A36 at Stapleford from Tuesday 4th March until Thursday 6th March from 07.00 – 19.00. Wiltshire Council work involves asphalt patch repairs, adjustments of ironwork, reinstating road markings and associated maintenance work. There will be pedestrian access for residents for the duration of the works.
BRIDGE CLOSURE
Full Berwick B3083 Road Closure at River Till Bridge – mid May to early July
Wiltshire Council is planning to carry out works on Berwick’s 2nd bridge. The bridge’s condition has deteriorated and is in poor condition and is now a priority to get work done. The work would involve taking down the existing bridge railings, removing the surfacing and taking down the concrete deck. There will also be a number of large construction machinery on site. On completion the bridge will look similar but the deck would be upgraded to modern standards. This work has to happen and we cannot stop it. Currently the work is scheduled to start on or around 12 May 2025 and it will entail a full road closure at the point of the bridge for 8 weeks. There will be a pedestrian walkway but otherwise no access. We will be liaising with Wiltshire Council to over the many factors that will affect residents and businesses. Some of these are listed in the Village Meeting Minutes. If you have any specific concerns, please contact Julian Glyn-Owen at: [email protected]
TEA and CAKE and CHAT in the READING ROOM
The March Chats are on Tuesdays 4th and 18thMarch from 2.30 – 4pm, come at any time, lovely to see everyone. There is no charge, cakes are welcome too! We very much welcome anyone from our other villages, and visitors too.
OLD FORGE FARM SHOP
Sunday 30th March. Mothers Day Afternoon Tea 2.30pm (Pre Bookings only) £22.95 per person, £10.95 children.
Wednesday 2nd April, Felt Hare workshop. 10am – 2pm £50.
For more information please contact the Farm Shop.
PLANT PRODUCE and FLOWER TABLE supporting C.R.UK
Hello villagers and neighbouring villages.
Hopefully by the time you read this we will be getting brighter days to cheer us. I always aim to get the table up and running for Easter and since Easter is quite late this year I have a chance, fingers crossed. I have got Sweet Pea on the go, pots of highly scented cool blues… I have been busy hardening them off and nipping out the growing shoots for stronger bushier plants they are pretty tough so will withstand any late frost. Chilli plants are tucked up in the propagators. I left the sowing of tomatoes a little later this year, got a nice one called Sungold very sweet with thin skins and big crops. I meant to say in the last mag that 6,708 pounds has been raised since I started the table that’s an awful lot of runner beans lol. I hope to have Cowslips harvested from my own seeds wish me luck. There will be houseplants for sale at the farm shop. Yours Aye Christine.
BERWICK VILLAGE FAYRE – Saturday 7th June 2025 from 1-5pm
We are pleased to announce that we will be holding a Village Fayre on Saturday 7th June at The Clock House in Berwick St James. Please invite as many of your family and friends to join us. There will be plenty of fun activities for kids and adults alike plus a number of stalls including a plant sale. Special grill and drink tents provided by roam@TheBoot plus our delicious teas and cakes. Entry is “free” but it is cash only for activities. More details will follow in the coming months. KEEP THE DATE AND JOIN THE FUN! – For further information, contact Carolyn MacDougall 07778565771
Request for plant contribution: The gardening calendar starts to get busier as spring approaches. As you ready you garden for the season ahead, we would be very grateful if you could bear our stall in mind. We would love any spare seedlings if you have sown too many, any herbaceous plants that you are dividing and may be able to pot up, or any excess cuttings. Thank you. Anika Lange and Olivia Marchant.
WILDLIFE WATCH
From Berwick: Since October a flock of about 100 sparrow-sized birds have been seen at the north end of Berwick off the Cricket pitch track. They fly over the field above the houses, then go down on the ground to feed. They sometimes rest of the electric wires. They are probably finches – has anyone else seen them, and can identify them? Also a flock of long tailed tits in a village garden, 10 to 12 of them. The collared doves have been busy raising their families this year. 14 junior collared doves were seen in a small tree in a village garden in January. There are a lot more collared doves these days and they outnumber the wood pigeons in a local front garden.
A barn owl flying over the Guides in the early evening in February, and a Muntjac deer and fawn on Asserton Lane also in early February.