The Parish of Guarlford

What's new on the website and in the village

Change of Parish Clerk

Following the retirement of Michael Skinner as the Clerk of Guarlford Parish Council on 31st December 2011 after 30 years service, his successor is Helen Sommerville.

Updates

WI programme for 2012 added and church services updated.

Upton Bridge is yellow

Local people were invited to choose the new colour scheme for Upton Bridge, but there seems to have been a mistake as instead of the subdued colour expected the bridge has been repainted bright yellow!

Metal thieves strike again

On the night of 21st November metal thieves raided the church again stripping lead from the roof of the vestry and porch. The Malvern Gazette reports a spate of thefts in the area including theft of lead from Malvern College, The Chase School and St Peter's church, and manhole covers.

Please be alert and note down the registration number of any suspicious vehicle.

Consider also writing to your MP asking what active measures the government and police are taking to deal with the situation.

Theft of Guarlford Church Bell

Thieves stole the church bell from St Mary's, Guarlford, during the night of Thursday 6th and Friday 7th October.

The bell had safely hung in a Hornbeam tree in the churchyard for nearly a century after the turret on the church roof was removed for structural reasons.

The thieves cut the cable to the security lamp and tyre tracks suggest a heavy vehicle was involved.

The bell which weighs about 200 Kg is marked at the top M&S.CO and in the middle 'RECAST- 1926'.

The bell had also been marked with 'smart water' to aid identification.

The thieves had returned after being disturbed on Monday night.  

Anyone with useful information should contact West Mercia Police on

Tel 0300 333 3000

New link to SS Salween added to John Beddington page

Modifications to web pages

Update of list of Parish Councillors, and advertisement of vacancy for Parish Clerk

Update of Village Hall and Church Fabric reports.

Additions to WI photos page

WI page amended to show 1:00 pm closing time of  Federation Office.

Addition of 'Lest We Forget' page. This includes mention of Olaf Petersen who lived with his Aunt  at Old Elm Cottages near the junction of Hall Green with the Guarlford Road.

Addition of page about Joan Bradshaw, village historian (1918 - 2007)

Additions to web pages

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting on 13th December 2010 added and meetings before 2010 deleted from the PC meetings page.

Notice of next PC meeting on 16th May added to notice-board.

Link to a video of the 1993 Guarlford Village Fete added to the reminiscences page.

Updated web pages

Church services added for April and May.

WI About us, and WI News pages updated

Notice board page updated

Don't forget to come to Daffodil Sunday at Madresfield on Sunday 27th March.

other dates for your diary are,

Pram service for mothers and toddlers 28th March

Village Hall AGM 11th April

Annual church meeting 27th April

WI Fun Quiz Evening

The WI Quiz was well attended by about 60 people, who split into competitive teams of four. Spot prizes were awarded between the seven rounds and a snack of vegetable soup, roll and butter, and a choice of pudding was served at half time. Everyone had a good time and the competition was won by a team from Penny Lane.

Happy New Year

Mobile library timetable and W programme updated for 2011.

Unusually we had a white Christmas. The snow first fell on the 17th December and remained until the thaw began on 28th. The weather was colder than average  with the  lowest recorded temperature being minus 15 deg C. Fortunately the main roads were kept clear, but there was plenty of ice on side roads to catch the unwary.

It was reported that there had been an attempt to steal fuel oil from the church, so be on the lookout. A number of people in the Malvern area also reported burst pipes.

Christmas Lunch

Fortunately the snow held off enough for the U3A Welsh Group, which included some Guarlford residents, to go ahead with a festive lunch at the Worcestershire Golf Club at Malvern Wells. Suffice it to say that the meal was very good, and we were well looked after by the staff in comfortable surroundings.

Talk to Guarlford History Group

The Guarlford History Group, in association with the Madresfield History Project, hosted a presentation entitled "Great Great Grandfather and a Few Sheep" on Sunday 21st November, at The Village Hall, Guarlford. 

The talk, presented by Mike Beard, was illustrated with a series of slides (PowerPoint Presentation). Mike first established his credentials by showing census records indicating that the Beard family had been resident in Guarlford for over 160 years. 

By describing his research into his family tree Mike revealed two family mysteries, one culminating in the discovery of a Great Great Grandfather, Joseph Watkins, of Colwall, who was transported to Australia for stealing three sheep off Hook Common, Near Upton, in 1851. 

The second mystery involved plantation owners in Trinidad in the early 1900's. This mystery was never solved. Mike also included anecdotes of his family's life in Guarlford in more recent years. The talk was excellent and much appreciated by the audience of over twenty people. It was a warm and enjoyable experience on a cold day.

Mike has transcribed the census records for Guarlford and very kindly presented a copy to the Guarlford History Group. For copyright reasons these cannot be put on-line, but can be made available to individuals for private research.

Update for October

Photos button added to the WI pages and November events added to the notice-board.

The church warden of St Mary has created an interesting display showing photographs of the interior of the church as it was circa 1900. This can be seen on the south wall near the font. See also history of St Mary on this website.

Sam Beard has kindly donated some books to the History Group, including histories of WWI and WWII.

Mike Beard has been busy transcribing the census returns for Guarlford and has offered to give a Family History talk on 21st November (to be confirmed; please check notice-board for details).

If you have memories or photos you would like added to the website, please contact the webmaster.

Minor updates to the website

Notice board updated. The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on 13th September. Note the mobile library will next visit Guarlford on 21st September.

A reference has been added to the other publications page about an excellent new book relating the social history of the nearby villages of Hanley Castle and Hanley Swan from Norman times to the present day.

The Dog at Baughton

On Tuesday 8th June Guarlford WI celebrated their birthday anniversary with dinner at 'The Dog at Baughton'.

Everyone enjoyed the menu; the food was very good and plentiful and the service was excellent.

Well-behaved dogs are allowed in the bar.

Directions: from Upton on Severn cross the A38 onto the Pershore road.'The Dog' is about 2 miles further on, on the left.

Telephone: 01684 594340

Website: www.thedogatbaughton.co.uk

From the Grapevine

Members of the Guarlford WI and other ladies from the village are currently making comfort quilts in support of Project Linus UK whose aim is to provide a sense of security and comfort to sick and traumatised babies, children and teenagers through the provision of new home made patchwork quilts and knitted / crocheted blankets. Please get in touch if you would like to offer help or contribute materials (email: wifolk@guarlford.org.uk). More information about Project Linus can be found on their website.

www.projectlinusuk.org.uk

Following the article 'Guarlford's Yesterdays Today', in the parish magazine,  memories have been received of the shopping centre in Barnards Green as it was between 1920 and about 1950.

Do you have your own memories of the area that you would like to send us?

Visitors to St Mary's will notice a new aisle runner.  This has been funded from a generous bequest from a dear friend and supporter of the church.

The Guarlford History Group held an open afternoon on 25th February when the archive of old photographs, maps and documents was reviewed. Several visitors came along, some bringing more photographs and information for the project. If you have anything to offer for the Guarlford Archive, please contact us or email admin@guarlford.org.uk

Some other local history books

Malvern library recently hosted a display of new books. Despite the snow, members of the GHG went along to find out more:-

Click here to find out more

Website

The mobile library timetable for 2010 can now be reached from a link on the noticeboard page - the  WI news page has been updated

Another Car Crash

On an icy Boxing Day morning a blue Vauxhall Omega believed to have been approaching from Clevelode Lane skidded and crashed into the pond railings which had only recently been repaired following a previous crash. The joint holding two sections of the railings together came apart and the scaffolding pierced the front of the car. See Malvern Gazette.for photo and full account.

News Digest

September saw a meeting of the parish council, a coffee morning in aid of the ALF group and back to church Sunday. On 4th October a Harvest Lunch was held in the Village Hall after the Harvest Festival service in St Mary's. Thanks to all who helped decorate the church, provided the excellent  food  and washed up! Over £450 was collected in aid of Masasi.

On Monday 5th October a car travelling from Malvern failed to negotiate the bend near the church and demolished the pond railings. Fortunately nobody drowned or appeared to be seriously hurt.

Keith Chester has sent some more photos for the village archive plus a cutting from the Malvern Gazette May 27, 1944 reporting the rescue of the Beaufigter pilot by Charlie Williams. Click here to read transcript.

Dissenters All!

A well attended meeting of the U3A Local History Group heard a fascinating  talk by Rod Ellis about the history of the non-conformist chapels in Malvern based on his book 'Dissenters All'.

Battle of Britain Sunday

This year the local service  was held at Lansdowne Methodist church where we met to recall that in 1940 the RAF against all odds defended this country, and many gave their lives so that we can live and worship in freedom. 

The congregation was joined by members of the Royal Air Forces Association and cadets from the Malvern Air Training Corps.

Car Crash

There was another collision at the junction of Chance Lane with the main Guarlford road at 4:30 pm last Thursday. Police, fire, and ambulance vehicles were in attendance and the main road was closed for about half an hour.

A similar accident occurred only recently, on 11th July 2009, and about a year previously a van travelling from Guarlford veered off the road presumably to avoid traffic waiting at the junction and demolished the 'Welcome to Malvern' sign opposite Chance Lane.

Click for photo of the crash scene

Web Page Navigation Bars

All pages have now been updated with the new horizontal navigation bar. The menu text is larger than before and the buttons light-up when the mouse pointer rolls over .

The top menu is unchanged, but the drop down boxes have been replaced by the lower menu bar.

For example to access the pages about our books, click GHG on the top menu and then Publications on the lower menu.

To read memories of people in the village simply click GHG and you will be taken straight there.

If you get lost look at the site map accessed from the Home page which shows how the pages are organised.

Web Page Navigation Bars

We are giving the web pages a fresher look, and at the same time, the menu buttons are being enlarged and simplified to make them easier to read. As a trial, the Home page has been modified which works with Firefox and Internet Explorer version 7. The remaining web pages are being updated gradually.

If the new pages do not display correctly on your computer, please would you let the Webmaster know, using the email address below - and give details of the browser version you are using, for example IE5 or IE6.

Recent News

Parishioners enjoyed the Parish Picnic on Madresfield school field following Junior Songs of Praise last Sunday. Fortunately the rain held off and it was good to see members of the ALF group.

Thank you to all those members of the parish who made cakes etc and supported the Canine Swimathon at Half Key Kennels in aid of Support Dogs. It was a good day with the band playing and the sun shining. Over £1,200 has been raised so far with some dogs still to swim.

The Hanley Society 'History' Open Day in Hanley Swan Village Hall on Saturday 20th June was a great success and real treat for those interested in the history of the area. Outside the hall the authors of the book 'Blackmore Park in World War II', about the US Army hospitals at Blackmore Park 1943 - 45, had set up a display complete with US Army Ambulance! Those who enjoyed the first book will be glad to know a further book 'Return to Duty' is in preparation. In addition to displays about the Hornyold, Lechmere and other families, stands were manned by Malvern Museum and the Guarlford History Group. In a side room a DVD played of old cine film including footage of the Upton Floods and later in the day Charlie Williams spoke about farm memories.

The Hanley Society have gathered a wealth of material and hope to publish one or more books about the area.

Updates to end March 2009

Daffodil Sunday at Madresfield Court was extremely well attended and a record £9,000 was raised in aid of Guarlford and Madresfield churches. A special thankyou to Lady Morrison, Peter Hughes and all who helped to make the event such a success this year.

Sam Beard has donated a bench in memory of his parents to the Village, which can be seen in the lobby of the Village Hall.

Keith Chester who lived at the Homestead in Clevelode Lane has provided more memories about growing up in Guarlford between the wars These can be found on the memories page.

A news article by the chairman of the Guarlford History Group for the Grapevine has been reproduced on the Future Programme page. Views from villagers are invited on how to continue the work of the group.

In addition minor updates have been made to the notice-board, church services, Rector's message, WI and parish council pages.

Guarlford History Group

Sales of the new book 'The Guarlford Scene' have reached 500 but there are plenty of copies still available.

The group is now compiling an archive of photographs and memories to be made available to interested researchers.

Building links with other Local History Groups is also being considered and an exploratory meeting has been held with Hanley.

There may also be the possibility of further events in the village hall.

Let us know if there is anything that interests you particularly.

Updates to Web Site to end January

Plaque in memory of fallen in two world wars added to photo gallery

WI and church pages updated

Parish Council pages reorganised to help meet freedom of information requirements

Photo added to Evacuees page

Updates to Web Site During October

Photos of 'The Guarlford Scene' book launch added to the photo gallery.

Flying Circus, Poems and Tin Tabernacle pages added to list of memories.

Updates to Web Site during August and September

Growing up in the 1920s. Amy Neal recounts her early years in Guarlford.

Classic Marquees of Malvern added to list of businesses

Marie Hall and Leslie Halward pages updated (and referenced by Wikipedia)

Page added about new pictorial history book 'The Guarlford Scene'

Church services updated.

Book Sales

Copies of 'The Guarlford Scene' are now available to purchase from Beacon Books on Worcester Road Great Malvern, Grange Farm Nursery shop at Guarlford and from the authors. Books are selling briskly and we have received some very favourable reviews. A bargain at £10 RRP and an even better deal for residents.

This would make an excellent Christmas present. Why not order copies while stocks last!

Book Launch

The publisher has delivered our new book 'The Guarlford Scene' so the launch on Sunday 14th September will definitely go ahead.

Mobile Library

The route and frequency of the mobile library has changed. It will now call every three weeks at Guarlford, after lunch, between 2:20 and 2:50 pm.

Enquiries about the service should be made to Malvern Library,

Tel 01684 561223 & 573582

e-mail: malvernmobile@worcestershire.gov.uk

Updates to Web Site during May, June and July

Web content updated to give advance notice of Book Launch on Sunday 14th September when the latest book about the village 'The Guarlford Scene' will go on sale for the first time.

Significant changes to Reminiscence pages:-

Photographs added to Leslie Halward page

New pages created in memory of,

John Henry Tandy

Frank Jarrett and Clark family

John Bedington (RN)

Updates to Web Site During April

Link to 'Walk for a Summers Day' added to the Walks page, together with a shortened version suitable for printing at home. Draft walks removed.

Link to Description of Village Hall Facilities added to the Hire Charges page.

Link to Malvern Business Directory added to the Links page.

Additions made to the Businesses page.

Sawing Log photo added to the photo gallery

Minor changes to the St Mary's Benefice page

To place news on this page please e-mail:   admin@guarlford.org.uk