Category: Community

Advent Window decorating is yet again taking place in Mowsley to celebrate and enjoy the arrival of Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ.

Traditional: (Above) David and Martin recently invited the ladies of Kibworth and Smeeton WI to their home, Kibworth Hall for an afternoon of traditional carol singing with prosecco and mince pies. A fabulous time was had by all.

Interesting to see upwards of 50 horses with riders in full hunting attire and a smaller number of tail-wagging beagles processing along Smeeton Westerby High Street on the morning of Saturday 26 November. A rural spectacle?

There were 60 individually decorated trees. Those who visited the church voted for their favourite tree in Adult and Children's section. The winning Adult tree was made by Anne Bloor from Burton Overy and Natalia, from Ukraine.

Our November meeting was a huge success, thanks to a wonderful member of the community, Jon Jones, who took time out from his busy life to help our group make some wooden Christmas decorations (as shown in photo).

If you are of a certain age, I wonder if you remember the radio programme ‘Round the Horne’, first heard in the 1960s on Sunday afternoons and now back on BBC Sounds. A frequent catch phrase uttered by Kenneth Williams was ‘The answer lies in the soil’ in a broad country brogue. How right he proved to be!

Readers will probably be aware of bird flu or HPAI amongst domestic poultry. Causing distress to farmers and concern about the availability of Christmas turkeys. There are also risks to egg production if domestic poultry farms continue to be affected by outbreaks of the disease. We already know that there have been some very significant impacts on wild bird populations. Over 60 species in the UK having been affected by the disease. There are many things not yet known about this outbreak.

Although not overtly “Christmassy”, this poem by the American poet Robert Frost (1874- 1963) creates a wintry atmosphere and images that suggest it is a dark December night and he has promised to be somewhere, possibly for Christmas? Carol Townend (u3a Poetry Group)

On a quiet October afternoon in the village where Peggy Pinch is the policeman’s wife, an old lady is poisoned in her parlour armchair. It is 1931 and folk with murder in their midst seem more concerned about Ogden’s unfair circulation of cigarette cards and the fate of Hedley’s Fairy Soap. Peggy cannot solve this murder without discovering the truth behind the myth that a German spy is living amongst them. No more than village gossip? Or did this traitor have a hand in the killing of Spinster Knightly? 

The Mothers’ Union (MU) is a worldwide Christian organisation that promotes the importance of family life. Formed in 1876 by Mary Sumner, an English woman, who after the birth of her first child felt overwhelmed by what she saw as the enormous responsibility of parenthood.