HI EVERYONE, good to be back in circulation following a month in exile either at home or in Dorset County Hospital and I send my apologies for any event not covered during this period whilst I was poorly.

  • A VERY exciting morning took place at Portesham Primary School on July 16 when to the delight of all the children, a helicopter landed in the school field to an enormous roar of the engines and rotor blades as it came in to land very low over our roof.

Fortunately, thanks to the School’s warning note sent round to all the immediate houses around the field, we were warned what was to happen the previous day so that pets, etc. could be kept indoors, which I am sure everyone was very grateful for and very considerate of the School.

The children were queuing eagerly to climb up and inspect the inside and be shown all the equipment on board by the time I managed to get round there and I was told that this was a culmination of the theme “transport” which the children had been studying over the term.

As the helicopter revved up its engines to take off later, the children had been safely returned to the school to watch and as it soared up in the sky, it circled round to do a low flyover as a farewell to the children.

  • RECENTLY, Portesham School also held a very successful summer fete with the usual stalls and activities but this year they also hired a marquee and held a barn dance for the children with a live band and later the parents joined the children to move to some very lively music.
  • ALSO, I unfortunately missed the Abbotsbury Summer Fayre where our village had hired a stall under the theme of ‘KITCHEN’ items organised by Liz Draper and her team of helpers.

I gather the stall was well supported and stocked with exciting things useful in the kitchen and it proved popular with the crowds and did brisk trade.

It was such a success that Liz intends to run the ‘kitchen’ stall again at the Crafty Christmas Tea party in November.

  • LIZ also asked me to remind everyone about seeking out some favourite family recipes with perhaps a nice story or memory attached to the dish to give it added interest.

The Recipe Book will be published sometime next year for sale with proceeds going to a good cause, so come on folks and sort some great new recipes for this venture and forward to Liz Draper as soon as possible.

  • AN EARLY nudge to get you all to make a note in your diaries for the St.Peter’s Harvest Festival Supper which will be held on Saturday, October 9 with the proceeds of the evening going to “Help the Heroes” as last year.

It is hoped that local businesses will dig deep again to donate some wonderful raffle prizes, last year we had some marvellous unusual prizes and would like to make it even more exciting this year.

“Help the Heroes” is such a great charity and everyone wants to raise money for this incredible cause to help our wounded and infirm servicemen returning to this country requiring medical aids, physiotherapy and nursing treatments to enable them to live as normal a life as is possible in the future.

These service personnel need all the help and money we can give to show our thanks for their skills and efforts to try to make our world a better and safer one for us all.

Liz will be very pleased to hear from any small businesses that would be willing to contribute to this raffle and can be contacted on 871316 (01305).

  • I HAVE received an email from Lesley Chandler, Community Leader of Dorset Partnership for Older People Project, and she is interested in setting up a Neighbourcar Voluntary Car & Driver scheme in the Portesham/Abbotsbury area and wondered whether or not people would be interested.

The scheme has been successfully introduced in other parts of Dorset including Portland and if there is enough interest, a committee could be formed to set up funds, recruiting drivers and clients, etc.

Please let me know if you are interested in becoming a volunteer driver or would like help with transport or to act on a committee to help get this scheme up and running.

I have suggested that Lesley also attends a Village Café at some time to meet and chat to people attending to explain how it would all work, their willingness to help run this or if you are very much in need of help for transport to and fro from Portesham as we have such a dire bus service around here.

  • THE CHESIL BANK Garden Club will be holding their annual barbecue at the Upwey Island Farm Nurseries on Tuesday, July 27 at 7.30pm for members and their partners only so let us hope the evening will be dry and sunny.
  • THE NEXT Village Café is being held on Saturday, July 31, this time organised by the Men’s section of the RBL from 10-12noon.

Please come along and support them, enjoy the social get together and refreshments and perhaps exchange your used library books for new ones to enjoy over the summer months, hopefully sitting out in the sunshine in the garden or for holiday reading.

  • THE YETTIES retire this year so make the most of getting tickets for one of their last performances when they hold a musical evening of great entertainment in Portesham village hall on Saturday, July 31 commencing at 7.30pm If you love Dorset and enjoy country tales and songs with lots of laughter thrown in, come along and join in the fun, they are such great entertainers and we will miss them when they retire.