The Chimes
The Chimes is the parish magazine for the villages of Aston Ingham, Linton, Upton Bishop, Lea and Gorsley. It is delivered at the beginning of the month ten times a year by volunteers (December/January and July/August) are joint issues. It is also available at www.thechimes.org.
The sub editor for Upton Bishop is Olivia Boon and she can be contacted on 07496 685960 or by email oliviaboon7@gmail.com
There is a directory of useful information published by The Chimes team. This is the Upton Bishop section of the directory.
Information about news and events which are published in The Chimes can be found in the What’s On and News section of this website.
February 2025
WHAT’S ON IN UPTON BISHOP
AT THE CHURCH:
Vicar – David Howell 01989 568736 Church Warden – Jane Ayres 07989 572356
The church is open every day – a quiet space for all to enjoy.
Dogs are welcome in the churchyard on a lead, but please clear up after them.
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SUNDAY SERVICES for FEBRUARY in the church 2nd Morning Worship 9th Communion 16th Communion 23rd All Age Worship |
All Services at 10.30 unless shown otherwise If you require gluten free communion bread, please let us know before the start of the service
Be assured of a warm welcome at these services which are suitable for all ages.
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EVENSONG every Tuesday, 5.30pm at Graham and Ann Fowler’s House. Ring 780600 for details. |
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BCP Communion Wednesday 5th February at 9.30am, followed by Prayer Group |
Christingle, Saturday 1st February. We thought it would be nice to make the first Lego Club and Coffee Morning special as it coincides with Candlemas, the last official day of the Christmas season for the church. Our usual session starts at 10.30 with Christingle making from 11am. Oranges, sweets and candles will all be provided, so come along and join in whatever your age.
Shrove Tuesday (pancake day) and Ash Wednesday mark the beginning of Lent on 4/5th March. Look out for news of Lent Discussion Groups.
Mothering Sunday falls on 30th March and there will be a special family service.
AT THE MILLENNIUM HALL:
FOR THE YOUNG:
LEGO@UB CLUB Saturday 1st February will include a Christingle making session with Rev David.
BABY SENSORY Monday mornings during termtime. Call Annabel 07341 956056 or hereford@babysensory.co.uk
LITTLE SWALLOWS Friday mornings. Activities for under 5s. Call Nicky 01989 780211
FIT AND ACTIVE:
HEARTSTART Saturday 15th Feb 2pm first aid training for everyone. Book your place in advance to avoid disappointment
KEEP FIT Tuesdays, 10-11am. Call Jane Fray 01989 780383 or Michaela Johnson 07706101164. The class is designed to help improve your fitness, strength, balance and co-ordination to some great music! You work at your own pace. The first session is free; after that, the cost is £6 per session for a block monthly booking and £8.00 per session pay as you go.
INDOOR SHORT-MAT BOWLS Tuesday 21st October, 7- 9pm, £2 per person includes tea/coffee and biscuits. All abilities very welcome. Call Dave Powell 07794 429090 or just come along!
BADMINTON CLUB Thursdays 8-10pm all ages and skills. Call Steve Cracknell 01989 720577.
TANGO Fridays but not every Friday. Check with Beryl Kirk 07743 778799 or bakirk@live.co.uk.
SOCIAL:
COFFEE MORNING Saturday 1st February 10-12am
SOCIAL AFTERNOON We look forward to seeing you for cake and chat on Monday 20th January, 2.30-4.30pm.
QUILTERS 3rd Thursday of the month, 2-4pm. Call Sue Jones 07505 977 944
QUIZ and SUPPER NIGHT Friday 28th February 6.30pm More testing quiz questions after a fortifying sausage supper with delicious puds in the interval. Tickets £10 must be booked in advance from Jane 07989572356 or Olivia 07496685960. Tea and coffee available but bring you own wine or beer if you would like something stronger.
UPTON BISHOP WI meets on the second Tuesday of each month, 7-9 pm in February we’ll learn how to make paper flowers. New members are always welcome at The Community Hub, St, Mary’s Garden Village. To find out more and about the numerous activities organised by the National and Herefordshire Federations of WIs, contact 01989 569881 Upton_Bishop_WI@herefordshire.org.uk.
WOMEN’S CIRCLE Offering a safe, non-judgemental space for women to connect, heal and learn from each other. Open to all women. Please contact Amy to enquire: 07867 761108.
200 CLUB DRAW FOR DECEMBER £20 Maurice Harper; £10 Karl Bates; £5 Christine Burson
FOR JANUARY £20 Marjorie Jarvis£10 Clare Bell £5 Pam Steadman
WELCOME to Annette and Mark who moved to The Vines in December.
BEST WISHES to Jane P, recovering from an operation, and to everyone who is not too well, or who is undergoing or waiting for treatment at present.
UPTON BISHOP NEWS
2024 Poppy Appeal – wonderful Alice collected £858.11 for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal with her annual door-to-door collection. This was even more than 2023 so thank you to Alice and to everyone who so generously contributed.
THE CHURCH
Christmas in the Parish was wonderful as ever. December kicked off with a fabulous Christmas Fayre despite awful weather. Thanks to all who worked so hard to make it a success. Thanks especially to the Parish Council who sponsored the face painting.
Our packed-out candlelit carol service featured the traditional readings and music, led by the choir, with the Ariconium handbell group and tower bells ringing joyfully before-hand. On Christmas day our baby Jesus was placed in his crib during the morning service, to be joined by the three Kings, twelve days later, at Epiphany. Thank you to everyone who helped decorate the church so beautifully and to Jake and Rupert Simpson who donated a magnificent fir tree.
Carol singers were out and about in December and raised £280 which was divided equally between the Air Ambulance and Church Repair fund.
THE MILLENNIUM HALL
If you are interested in joining the Millennium Hall team, please get in touch: 07496 685 960.
HIRING THE HALL There is space in the diary for new events so please go on line to book a date: https://v2.hallmaster.co.uk/Scheduler/View/13123?startRoom=0 or contact pollyannakay@gmail.com
Unfortunately, we are going to have to review charges for hiring the Hall in the near future, as these have not altered for a number of years.
UPTON BISHOP WI December was very festive as we met at a garden centre for shopping, coffee and mince pies and also had our monthly meeting where we each made a festive, floral arrangement to take home. This tied in with one of the WI campaigns for this year: Clean rivers for people and wildlife. We had a short talk about how floral oasis can’t be recycled or disposed of without micro-plastics getting into the environment and food chain. With an expert retired florist to guide us, our fresh flower arrangements used chicken wire to secure the flowers. This was followed by a buffet and the exchange of Secret Santa gifts. In January we were Wassailing.
UPTON BISHOP PARISH COUNCIL (UBPC) Any parishioner can contact the UBPC at clerk@uptonbishop.gov.uk Parish Council meeting minutes are available on the Parish Council website.
Error: In the last edition Parish Council funds were given as £239, 589.59. The correct amount was £23,958.59.
Five councillors, the clerk, ward councillor and nine members of the public attended the 14th January Parish Council meeting. As part of his report the ward councillor said the planning application for 40 holiday homes was expected to be debated at a full planning committee meeting if officers recommended it should be approved. The ward councillor’s report is on the website. Herefordshire Council was thanked for their prompt response to reports of fly tipping. A member of the public raised the state of the road from Phocle Green, through Rudhall to Weston. He was advised to start collecting evidence which could be used to support any request for safety improvements. Councillors supported three planning applications for Tedgewood Farm but objected to 242978 and 242979 echoing the concerns of the statutory consultee, Historic Buildings and Places. The Haywood Farm planning application was supported. Responsibility for broadband improvements is now a national initiative and not the responsibility of Herefordshire Council and there was no new information on improvements in Phocle Green. The lengthsman has been concentrating on responding to wintry weather particularly keeping drainage ditches clear. Fourteen flood risk areas have been identified in the parish. Six on C and U roads were dealt with by the lengthsman. If people are aware of others they are asked to take photographs and identify the location using What3Words and to send the details to the clerk. Two new stiles have been erected on UB3 in Phocle Green and there are more plans to upgrade stiles to gates on footpaths which form part of the Wye Valley walk.
The next scheduled meeting is at 7pm on Tuesday, 4th February.
Rainfall report by Rob the Rainman
November’s’ total was 97mm this being 35% more than average. It was mainly dry for the first half of the month but the cloudy weather of the last 4 days of October continued for a further 10 days and so this was a dull, misty at times, calm and mild period; an anticyclonic gloom said the experts. Finally it moved away and we saw the sun again on the 11th. It then turned colder with snow on the 18th and 19th and overnight frost. This was broken by Storm Bert on the 23rd and 24th, a deep, slow moving, mild low which gave just over 50mm of rain causing more flooding. Storm Conlan was on the 26th but a non event for us. Decembers’ total was 56.1mm and a somewhat dryer month as this was 25% less that the average. No prolonged dry spell but the weather feature was Storm Darragh on the 6th and 7th. Thankfully, there wasn’t much rain but it gave a prolonged period of very high winds causing damage to trees and property. The wettest day was the 18th (18mm). Not surprisingly the year was 40% wetter that average and that, coupled with the many dull, grey days when it was dry, meant that it was a very poor weather year indeed.