www.littlewenlock.org

Clubs

The 100 Club

Now in its ninth year. A fun fundraiser for the Village Hall with 93 members and new subscribers are always welcome. £1 per month gives you the chance to win 3 cash prizes. 50% of the money collected goes to the winners and 505 to the hall.

Contact Roy Parsons (Treasurer) 01952 505888

Amateur Radio Society

In July 2008, Telford & Wrekin Amateur Radio Society set up a new home in Little Wenlock Village Hall. The following introduction gives an idea of their activities.

Hello to all at Little Wenlock, we wanted to give you a short introduction to the Radio Club, what it does and tell you about the aerials we have erected on the side of the village hall and how they are used.
Telford & District Amateur Radio Society, known as TDARS, was founded in 1969 in Wellington and has had many homes since, most recently Dawley Bank Community Centre. Unfortunately as a result of T&W cost cutting the centre is to be demolished and we had to find a new home after almost 20 years. This led to us working with the Little Wenlock Village Hall Committee to establish a new home here.

We are a very sociable club with a wide range of interests. Most years, society members take part in a Dx-pedition (DX is a term associated with long distance transmissions) to a remote place. Four years ago we visited Slieve Croob in Northern Ireland. This year we did what we call the Marconi Heritage trail operating from one of Marconi’s old operating stations in Wales. Field Days ( a competition to make as many contacts with other amateurs over 24 hours as possible) are regularly entered; this year in 2008 would have found us on the Long Mynd, near to Pole Bank. on 5th/6th July.

Members' activities range from Morse code to digital signals. Many members build their own equipment. Experienced assistance is always on hand to builders and we run all the licencing courses needed to allow people to get on the air. Every few years we run Morse courses to build up members skills on the air. For several years running we have done science sessions in local primary schools and this year will be running a public session at Enginuity in Ironbridge. In September we will be running the 3rd Hamfest at the ‘hands-on’ Enginuity Museum in Coalbrookdale. A Hamfest is something we run to allow amateurs across the region to meet, discuss, buy and sell equipment and meet professional traders.

The two poles on the side of the village hall support our contribution to two very important UK wide networks. The one furthest away from the road supports a voice repeater. This allow people to talk to the repeater and the signal is relayed out. What this allows is local amateurs to have coverage over a large area of Shropshire without having to use high power to operate. The voice repeater is in a great location where height and clearance of obstacles allow us to have an operating area down the M54 past Wolverhampton and east close to the Welsh borders.

The other pole hosts our beacon on some of the very high frequency bands. Propagation on all bands depends on a lot of factors including atmospheric conditions and the change of state of various layers of the atmosphere (ionosphere, troposphere) caused by the sun. As such conditions suitable for transmission go up and down. The beacons are used nationally and internationally to monitor for good propagation conditions, and in turn we also monitor beacons in the UK and beyond on the lookout for conditions where we are able to communicate with people further afield."

The club meets at little Wenlock Village Hall on Wednesdays at 7.30 - 10.00 pm

More information with regard to the club's activities can be obtained from Tony Woodhouse 01952 670058

Badminton Club

From its inception early in January 2008, the Little Wenlock Badminton Club has gone from strength to strength. We now have more than 25 regular players of all ages, with a wide range of abilities. Everyone is welcome and equipment can be provided so there is no excuse not to join us. Please check the notices around the village for the latest scheduled sessions, or alternatively contact Paul Goodman on 507706.

Gardening Club - updated March 2011

As well as playing a prominent role in the annual “Open Gardens” weekend, the 20-plus members of the gardening club run a highly successful plant sale each spring to raise funds for local charities, together with a programme of evening talks and garden visits.

The gardening club meets on the last Tuesday of the month during the winter months at 7.30 pm in the village hall.

Visits are publicised widely in advance on the telegraph pole noticeboards.

Little Wenlock Garden Club is thriving and has had an exciting schedule of events for 2011.

Contact Hilary & Karen on 505547 / 505950

General Contacts :

Contact: Ruth Manley 01952 505576
Karen Sloan 01952 505950
Mike Dean 01952 505950

LETS

Ladies of Little Wenlock LETS get out more is an informal social group.

Each month someone organises an event, and asks the rest of the group if they would like to come. It’s as simple as that, no rota, no committee. No need to join in every month, just a list of members.

The group has 26 members.

Contact Hilary Betts 01952 505547

Over 60’s Lunch Club

Open to all villagers over 60 years of age, the lunch club was started in October 2002.

It has proved hugely popular, currently catering for around 40 members.

For a small fee, members are provided with a two-course meal plus tea or coffee, prepared by a team led by a villager with particular local catering experience.

The lunch club meets in the Village Hall on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 12.30 pm.

Contact Sue Parsons 01952 505888

Rainbow Guides

The Rainbow Guides group, only started in 2005, caters for a maximum of 15 girls between the ages of 5 and 7.

There is currently a waiting list to join the group, which feeds into the local Coalbrookdale Brownies.

The Rainbows meet at the village hall on Thursdays from 5.30pm – 6.30pm.

Contact Lucie Roberjot 01952 506154

Women’s Institute

The Little Wenlock WI currently involves nearly 30 members in an active programme of monthly talks, discussions and practical demonstrations.

We enjoy theatre trips and outings covering a variety of interests.

During 2006 the group undertook an innovative mapping project with the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, providing every house in the village with its own unique location reference in their database detailed on a handy card to be kept by the phone for use in emergencies.

We are a friendly group, spanning a wide age range, and we extend a warm welcome to everyone.

The WI meets at the village hall on the first Wednesday of each month at 2.00 pm.

Enquiries to Secretary, Eileen Appleby, 260111 or President, Heather Cooke, 504201.

WI News August 2011

Our last meeting this summer was greatly enjoyed by everyone tasting the 6 delicious dishes demonstrated by committee members. The next meeting is on September, Wednesday 7th when we will be entertained by the youth Theatre group Kaleidoscope. Meanwhile there is the Shrewsbury Flower Show in August with some of us entering the WI competitions. We are also hosting 2 events, an evening of Magic in September and a Craft Day in November for our WI Group which consists of 5 local Institutes. There is plenty going on in Little Wenlock WI, so ladies please come and join us in September. We have been part of this community for 78 years, inevitably we are getting older and sadly this is most people’s image, along with Jam and Jerusalem, but today’s WI is very different. We are involved in many National debates and projects; remember the Great Milk Debate, SOS for Bees, Care not Custody,Violence against Women, and this year, Closure of Libraries. Nationally WI is thriving with new institutes opening all over the country and in urban areas too. Here in Little Wenlock we need new members, fresh faces and new ideas. Apart from serious discussions, interesting outings and speakers, friendship and support we have a lot of fun. Come and join us!

Contact Heather Cooke, President on 504201 or Eileen Appleby, Secretary on 260111.