BLAGDON VILLAGE
AUGUST 2010 UPDATE
Hot outside – freezing inside
In a wonderful antidote to the scorching weather last month we enjoyed a fascinating illustrated talk on the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton (pictured below) who was involved in several Antarctic expeditions early in the 20th century. Yes really – the sun was blazing and there were we looking at pictures of the South Pole!
One exhibition in particular brought him to prominence when he saved the entire crew after his ship Endurance was crushed in the ice.
The speaker was John Elder, a former army surveyor who himself has been on expeditions to Antarctica and who has studied the exploits of Shackleton.
A well attended audience donated generously to the Mission to Seafarers.
Another year, another decade
We started a bit of a tradition last year with our first Decade Busters party. The occasion was in honour of all those residents celebrating a birthday ending in ‘0’.
The party was such a success we’ve now decided it should become an annual event in the calendar.
This year’s Decade Buster party was on July 24th. There were 10 ‘birthday boys and girls’ including two nonagenarians – that’s 90 year olds!
We decked the Clubhouse out in party streamers, ate, drank, chatted and generally had a lovely afternoon.
JULY 2010 UPDATE
Making the most of the sun
It is lovely this year having been able to plan an outdoor event and feel sure the weather will be sunny. On the 9th our Master Golfer Bob arranged a competition on our grand nine hole course and a host of residents came to compete, only to find Bob had gone off to play real golf somewhere else!
He had provided a competent stand-in however in Mike W. The star competitor turned out to be Pat who completed the round in 21 and earned a prize at the bar.
Ian found spectating absorbing and even looked up from his crossword once!
Board game fun
Even in July, not all activities are outside and the monthly Board Game evening continues on the second Friday of the month – coinciding neatly with fish and chip night in the restaurant.
A host of games are available from Triominos to Rummikub, Sorry to Uno and one of the favourites: Mexican Train played with dominos, which has been known to continue until almost midnight. In the background of one photo is a lone player grappling with Patience – the old ones can be the best!
JUNE 2010 UPDATE
The wine flowed...
Our Residents have an obvious bias for good living for we had the Garden Room filled to overflowing for a recent Wine Tasting evening. Starting with a sparkler, we worked our way through several white and then red wines as our supplier to the Clubhouse gave informative and humorous descriptions.
If you go down to the woods today
Cupboards were raided as we were encouraged to let Teddy know summer was here by bringing him along to a Teddy Bears’ Picnic. Quite a range of bears arrived, picnics were brought and shared, and a guessing game realised a sizable sum which was donated towards equipment to help children with cancer at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Another racing success
Following on from April’s popular Grand National Sweepstake, an
experimental get-together was held in the Clubhouse for Derby Day which turned out to be a success and we hope these events will become annual features in our calendar of events.
Cashing in
Our 18th regular interest group has been formed. The Blagdon
Investment Club took off last month with members pooling thoughts, calculations and knowledge. They’re looking forward to their first immersion into the world of ‘hands on’ investment.
Days out
Monthly summer coach trips are proving very popular. Minehead, Lynton and Lynmouth have already been visited and those to come include Sidmouth and Torquay. We feel very fortunate that Blagdon Retirement Village is nicely situated to easily get to so many beautiful and interesting places.
APRIL 2010 UPDATE
Help for Heroes
The recent deployment to Afghanistan of 40 Commando, a locally based army unit, prompted the Village to hold a cake sale and coffee morning in support of Help the Heroes, a charity for helping injured military personnel. The stall showed off the baking expertise of many in the Village with the table loaded with cakes, biscuits and scones, and a local bakers shop donated hot cross buns and Easter biscuits.
Merielle baked a scrumptious looking chocolate Easter cake which raised over £20 in a guess-the-weight competition, the winner guessing correctly to the last half ounce! Retirement Villages gave two bottles of wine for auction and altogether Blagdon was able to send off a cheque for £364 to help wounded heroes.
A grand day
The Grand National was the basis of a very happy day when bottles were popped and smoked salmon was on the picnic menu. Mike ran a well organised sweepstake; a noisy and enthusiastic crowd watched the race on television resulting in happy winners sharing over £90 in prizes.
What a talented bunch!
One of our popular regular interest meetings is the Art Group and the members recently held an exhibition in the Garden Room. This was arranged by Gerry Wright who travels in from Bridgwater each week as Art Teacher and Katie Normandale, one of our residents who leads the Group.
The paintings and sketches displayed the great talent in the Group in still life, portrait and landscape. A beautiful day with wine and nibbles made the occasion most enjoyable. It was arranged as a charitable event and proceeds went to Cancer Research, so it was good to have its local representative along, too.
MARCH 2010 UPDATE
We’re ‘helping the heroes’
Nearby Norton Fitzwarren is the base for 40 Commando unit which is deploying to Afghanistan this month. As an act of support for injured military personnel, on March 30th we are holding a Cake Stall for ‘Help the Heroes’ with the proceeds going to this great cause.
So ladies will soon be baking and men taking along pockets of money to make this a successful morning. Please note we would never suggest there is a bar to the women bringing the money and the men baking the cakes!
A ‘Grand’ occasion
Grand National Day – April 10th – will be a grand occasion here at Blagdon Village. The country’s most prestigious horse race and one of the world’s greatest sporting spectacles will be screened on the television in the Clubhouse – live from Aintree.
Residents will be encouraged to bring a picnic with tables laid out on the lawns and the bar open – all the ingredients we need for an afternoon of fun. Mike will be running the Sweepstake again giving all of us the chance to be a winner on the day.
Arty bunch
We have an active weekly Art for Fun Group under the guidance of a talented artist. On April 16th the Group is staging an Art Exhibition, when the results of members’ expertise will be shown. This will be a wine and cheese event and proceeds are being donated to Cancer Research.
FEBRUARY 2010 UPDATE
New groups on the calendar
Each weekday has an interest group activity taking place and this month two more have been added to our regular calendar: Chair Move Exercises conducted by an expert instructor for those with mobility problems, and a Friday morning Bridge Club for beginners and for players.
With a Current Affairs group due to commence next month, we shall have a total of 16 activities on the go, all well supported.
Charity talk
We were amazed to hear the scope of palliative care, advice and support for patients and families which is available from the local St. Margaret’s Hospice, when a charity organiser visited us this month. Modern facilities and a very positive attitude is displayed by staff, and one of the hospice’s qualities is following its maxim of ‘adding life to the day’.
As we are all getting older, it is a great comfort to know of such a supportive facility so close by.
Dazzling bird display
We are not far from the Somerset Levels here at Blagdon Village and at this time of year we have passing over us at dusk clouds of starlings on their way to gather together and perform their magnificent swooping flight before roosting, a performance from nature not to be missed.
JANUARY 2010 UPDATE
What a Christmas that was…!
With Christmas memories fading fast, it is good to be reminded of the fun times we had. Our Apolaustic (devoted to the search of enjoyment) Blagdon Christmas evening included fancy dress, which produced some amazing results.
Games, story telling, singing, raffle and buffet, in a setting of lovely decorations, made for a great evening. Thank you, June.
Young at heart
T
here’s nothing like a bit of snow to bring out the child in all of us. The recent snowfalls we experienced in Taunton had a number of us reaching for our wellies and gloves and we had several new residents – in the form of snowmen – by the end of the day!
Hospice support
We again supported the local St Margaret’s Hospice by making a donation in exchange for adding Christmas greetings to a wall poster as an alternative to sending cards to our neighbours. Not only did it make for a lovely festive wall display we raised £142 for a very good cause.
The hospice is visiting the village next month to give us an illustrated presentation of the wide range of care and support services it provides.
Back in the swing
The full set of our 13 regular Interest Groups is under way again after the break, ranging across country dancing and swimming, poetry and board games, table tennis and belleplates. There are discussions underway to start another three new groups in the coming months – we’ll keep you posted!
DECEMBER 2009 UPDATE
A full calendar of events
At Blagdon Village, the halls are decked with i.v. (irrepressible veterans) enjoying a full calendar of events. With 13 interest groups vying for space in the diary, it is sometimes difficult to find a slot for ‘one-offs’.
The month got off to an hilarious start with Mickey’s masterful monologues. The following week the Belleplates Group visited a nearby nursing home, giving a dynamic demonstration of their campanological capabilities, with volleys of vociferous vocal support of seasonal songs by the residents.
Scholars from Bishop Fox’s School presented a moving Concert of old and new carols and now we are looking to a home-produced Apolaustic Blagdon Christmas evening on the 18th of fancy dress and fun, games and giggles, music and mince pies, with raconteur and raffle. Those arranging the New Year's Eve Party are going to struggle to compete!
On Christmas Eve we shall be drinking a toast to all the willing and delightful staff at Blagdon for a Very Happy Christmas and Peaceful New Year; may this be so for all who read this greeting.
NOVEMBER 2009 UPDATE
Resident’s design in print
With Christmas fast approaching, we entered into the festive spirit, taking part in Retirement Villages’ ‘design a Christmas card’ competition.
June Baldwin’s ‘Tree’ painting (click picture to enlarge) was chosen as one of seven runner-up designs from across the villages, and appears on the reverse of the 2,000 Christmas cards, available for suppliers, residents, their families and friends. June receives a box of chocolates to mark her efforts.
Don’t trip over the broomsticks!
Being a contrary lot, we celebrated on the eve of Hallowe’en but the witches and warlocks still arrived and we had a ‘frighteningly’ good evening (click picture to enlarge).
We even had nerve enough to take part in Bill’s wicked monthly quiz.
Tasty demo
A recent Sugar Craft demonstration gave us many suggestions for Christmas cake decorations. And even if our own efforts do not produce the same results as the experts it’s always good to lick one’s fingers after trying!
Visiting and visitors
It is a treat to have visitors, and children from Bishop Fox’s School will be making a welcome return to sing Christmas songs on December 14. But, being a community of the ‘actively retired’, it is also good to make visits ourselves and on December 8 our Belleplates Group will be making its second visit to Chelston Park Residential Nursing Home at Wellington.
We’re currently busy rehearsing a batch of seasonal tunes which we hope our audience will not only recognise but sing along to!
ABC evening
We are having an ABC evening on the 18th ‘devoted to the search of enjoyment’ - an Apolaustic Blagdon Christmas! With fancy dress, games and raffle it should live up to its aims. We may bring you pictures next time – depending on the outcome!
OCTOBER 2009 UPDATE
Lucky for some
October saw the commencement of our thirteenth interest group - a Singing Group headed up by June Baldwin. Twenty residents took part in the first session, with the group meeting on Tuesday afternoons.
June does not profess to have any formal training but has participated in pantomime and operetta in the past and ‘just enjoys singing’, which is the purpose of the group. The first target is to entertain at our New Year’s Eve Party.
Ring my bell
The Belleplates’ visit to Chelston Park Residential Nursing Home at Wellington last month went well, as a selection of well known songs was played to an appreciative audience, which enthusiastically joined in! The Belleplates Group are determinedly practising for a Christmas concert performance there in December.
Christmas preparations start here
We are approaching the time of year for special one-off events.
On November 10 there will be a Sugar Craft demonstration of decorative plaques for Christmas cakes.
Evening presentations by two local stores, The Body Shop and Monsoon Accessorize, are scheduled and we look forward to the return of Mickey Fitzpatrick on 1 December with her wickedly humorous monologues.
SEPTEMBER 2009 UPDATE
Ring the bell
Our choir of 20 bell-ringers performed their first official concert at a residential home here in Taunton recently.
The group, headed by Eileen Bird, has been practising for months, tackling a number of tunes from Oranges and Lemons to very complicated arrangements of classics.
We meet once a week on a Monday in Blagdon Lodge and, while it sometimes takes a while to grasp a piece of music, we have an awful lot of fun trying.
We’re now working on some carols in the hope we’ll be good enough to put on a concert for the rest of the village in the run up to Christmas.
Left, right, left, left, right
The specially sprung floor in Blagdon Lodge is being put through its paces nowadays with our new Country Dancing club up and running – or should that be dancing!
Around 20 of us regularly pound the floors, learning to do-si-do, swing our partners and form a set – it’s a different language!
It’s a lot of fun and is keeping us all active - which can only be a good thing!
Time to pamper
There’s a hair and beauty salon here at Blagdon Village which gives us a good excuse to enjoy a little pampering every now and then.
Our multi-talented assistant village manager Clair Crowther is qualified in a number of different therapies including reflexology, aromatherapy, massage, Indian head massage and hopi ear candles.
AUGUST 2009 UPDATE
Mystery of Blagdon’s latest guest
Great excitement was generated here at Blagdon Village a few weeks ago by the arrival of an initially unidentified bird at the very top of a tall cedar tree (click to enlarge picture). It looked like a cormorant but it had a white breast which no one had seen before on a cormorant.
The Somerset Wildlife Trust came up with the answer that it was indeed a cormorant - but a juvenile. It is still using this roost, departing at about 7am and returning at about 7pm, but the mystery still remains - what is a cormorant doing roosting at the very top of a tall cedar tree which waves around in the wind? What is it doing on the edge of a large town? Isn't the more normal roost for cormorants a rock or a cliff by the sea?
Blagdon Village is 14 miles from the nearest coast as the crow, or rather the cormorant, flies. Didn't its mummy teach it properly? Or is just a typical teenager that thinks it knows best? We assume that it prefers freshwater fish and catches them in the local rivers and reservoirs. Healthy living avoiding salt?
Board of games?
During September we are introducing a Board Games evening. The organisers have a comprehensive collection of board games of all sorts and thought that other residents could be interested in playing. If the event proves to be a success it will be repeated every month on a Friday evening.
We will also be trying a new annual event, the Last Night of the Proms. The Village has a wide screen TV that was donated by a resident and was first used for a highly enjoyable Grand National afternoon in April. Hopefully we can replicate some of the atmosphere of the Albert Hall, including the singing and flag waving!
Medieval trip
Also in September, a visit has been arranged to a medieval manor house, Cothelstone Manor, nestled beneath the Quantock Hills near Taunton. That should be a very interesting afternoon for those who enjoy old houses, and local history particularly. This visit will be the day after we hear a talk, arranged by Media Matters, by a member of the Family History Society so we may have some background information before we go.
* A group of us will also be going ten-pin bowling at some time during the month - yet another activity to keep us out of mischief, or not?!
JULY 2009 UPDATE
It’s not the Open, but…
On Sunday 12 July the residents of Blagdon had the opportunity to demonstrate their prowess, or otherwise, by taking part in a putting tournament on the village's own nine-hole putting green. The weather forecast wasn’t great, which unfortunately caused the chef to cancel the previously planned barbeque. But the showers held off and enabled all who took part to have a very enjoyable time.
The winner had to be decided by a play off round, the final victor being Phil Catlin - who also happens to be Chairman of the Residents' Association! The picture shows Phil (click to enlarge picture), on the left holding his prize of a bottle of wine – donated by Retirement Villages, with the second place competitor, Jim Forrester.
By sheer coincidence both of these have appeared in publicity material for Blagdon Village so their faces may be familiar!
Decade Busters’ party
Some months ago we realised an unusually high proportion of Blagdon Village residents would be reaching a new decade during 2009 – whether it be 70, 80 or 90. That was felt to be a very good excuse for a party which was duly held in July.
Almost the entire population of the village attended the Decade Busters’ party as we called it, with some guests as well, and enjoyed a buffet afternoon tea prepared by our chef Glen.
The menu was deliberately designed to evoke memories of childhood birthday parties and included jelly and blancmange. Glen had also made a big birthday cake to end the buffet at which point the sparkling wine was opened and everyone joined in to toast the birthday ‘boys and girls’. The photo shows all 12 of the ‘decadeagenarians’ in party mood.
What we do
One of the factors which attracted many residents to Blagdon Village is the fact it was designed for the active retired. And very active we are too! Many activities have been introduced by residents with other residents joining in as and when they wish.
There’s the putting, as already mentioned, as well as snooker, table tennis, belleplates (similar to bell ringing), line-dancing, country dancing, art group, reading group, poetry group, hobby/craft group, quiz nights, talks (by both residents and outside speakers) and, as the Decade Busters' Party shows, anything that can be used as an excuse for a get-together.
There’s also a fitness suite for those who wish to stay as physically fit as they can. As more people move in they will bring with them new interests and ideas for new activities to be developed. And, of course there will be more people taking part in the existing ones. Watch this space!
Winter Season
Planning has already started for additional one-off events in the lead up to Christmas Why so early? Because some outside agencies have to be booked well in advance. Also, care has to be taken that there isn't too much on in a relatively short time span to avoid exhausting us residents!
JUNE 2009 UPDATE
Residents get crafty
Some of our residents are proudly displaying their crafty side at our new village shop. Craft items created by residents – including knitted toys and greetings cards – are on sale in the shop alongside work by artists from Taunton and the surrounding area.
There are some beautiful things in the shop and it’s becoming a bit of an art gallery with residents visiting for a look around. There are some wonderful gift ideas too so it’s a useful addition to have in the village.
This month we’re gearing up for:
Our Decade Busters Party: with one 70th birthday, nine 80th birthdays and two 90th birthdays all falling within a few months of each other we’re staging one big party complete with giant cake which we’re hoping all the residents will attend.
Our first official Putting Competition on our new putting green, created on the lawn at the back of Blagdon Lodge is being celebrated with a village barbecue with food provided by Blagdon Village’s own chef Glen.
MAY 2009 UPDATE
Douglas goes to print!
One of our residents, Douglas Munns (click picture to enlarge) celebrates his 90th birthday this year with the publication of his autobiography.
‘Being in the Way’ charts Douglas’ career as a dental surgeon including a spell in the Royal Navy, his involvement with the very beginning of the NHS and how his faith has shaped his life.
Events in the village – spring/summer diary
- Poetry reading – alternate Wednesdays
- Hobbies and crafts group – alternate Mondays
- Line dancing with Tim and Rachael – every Wednesday evening (newcomers to the village always welcome)
- Belleplates Music Group – every Monday (except first Monday in the month)
- Reading group – every third Thursday in the month
- Country dancing – alternate Friday afternoons.
Anyone for golf?
The village’s nine-hole putting green (click picture to enlarge) is up and running, As our latest image shows, the course is being very well used!