Knighton

4:56pm Thursday 11th September 2008

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SURGERY CLOSURE – Wylcwn Street doctors’ surgery will be closed for training from 1pm on Thursday, September 18, to 8am on Friday, September 19. For emergencies during those times, contact the surgery on 01547 528523 and a contact number will be given.

JENNY MILLER BAND AT THE COMMUNITY CENTRE – On Saturday, the Jenny Miller band will be performing at Knighton Community Centre. Doors open at 8pm. Tickets are available from the book shop and Spar, Knighton.

FARMERS’ MARKET – Knighton and district farmers’ market will take place in Knighton Community Centre on Saturday from 9.30am to 1pm. There will be a large selection of stalls selling a wide range of craft and produce.

TREF-Y-CLAWDD WI – The September meeting of Tref-Y-Clawdd WI started with Shirley Moorhouse dealing with the business side of the meeting. She thanked everyone who contributed to the entry in the Knighton Show and Carnival. Shirley also thanked Rosemary Eyke for hosting the garden party held recently at her home and Julia Roberts for arranging a recent trip to Ten Green Bottles in New Radnor.

The speaker for the evening was Ann Cummings who gave a talk on graphology. Graphology is a study of handwriting, something that can change with age, mood and the weather.

Members were asked to submit a sample of their handwriting to be analysed by Ann.

Graphology can be used to work against forgery. Often now when taking on new staff firms will look at graphology in deciding a suitable employee.

The evening ended with refreshments. The competition for the evening was a table centre decoration of autumn berries and fruit. This was won by Joan Beattie, with Pauline Parker, second, and Julie Read, third. The next meeting will be held at Norton Street Baptist Church on October 1 starting at 7.30pm. The speaker for the evening will be Mr Chidlow on the subject of old China pottery. If anyone would like more information about the WI they can join at their next meeting or contact Margaret Johnson, president, on 01547 529661.

GABON TALK – Last week Amy Beavan, a former pupil of Beguildy Primary School and John Beddoes School, Presteigne, gave a talk at Lloyney Inn on her recent expedition to Gabon in Western Africa. The evening started with an array of pictures shown on a projector while drinks were served at the bar. On a table in the room was a display of some of the equipment which the team had taken on the expedition. The various items included military surplus boots, a compass and malaria tablets, and guide books which had been consulted on the trip.

Amy’s presentation included information about Gabon and the importance of the project they carried out, highlighting the conservation and management problems posed by invasive species globally. The subject of Amy’s project was the invasive ant species Wasmannia auropunctata commonly known as the little red fire ant and its effect on reptile and amphibian communities of the West African rainforest.

Amy's stories of her travels in Africa and some of the people and animals she met when she was there provided much amusement and interest. In particular was her encounter with a western lowland gorilla while helping other researchers with a bird study. Amy recalled how they nearly bumped into the large grey back when emerging from thick undergrowth on return to camp. The vital etiquette of gorilla encounters demanded that the team of researchers retreat to a clearing and remain on the haunches, making sure not to look the massive ape in the eyes. The encounter was tainted by the fact that it took place in fire ant infested forest, with the ants crawling all over the group as they were circled and intimidated. Amy also recalled tales of the curious elephants which would periodically enter their camp area at night and chomp on items of their equipment and clothing and lurk in the shadows, making a night-time trip to the toilet a dangerous prospect.

After the talk had finished, Fred Beavan, Amy’s grandfather, thanked Amy on behalf of everyone at Lloyney Inn for her insightful talk which whisked its listeners far from the Teme Valley. Feedback from the talk was extremely positive and Amy had many interesting questions to answer.

A total of £40 was raised during the evening which Amy is going to send to the African field guides to help them get driving licences so that they can borrow a car and take their children to hospital or other places.

MONEY FOR YOUNG FOOTBALLERS A fundraiser for Knighton and Presteigne junior footballers organised by Sally Ann Rowlands and Val Hinton on behalf of the Knighton and Presteigne Royal and Ancient Order of Buffaloes raised £246. The event included an on-foot treasure hunt around the town that was won by Sue Licence, Sue Hayward and Sally Law. The DVD player prize was won by Petra Saywell and a quiz sheet challenge was won by Carol Cornes.

At the last meeting of the Buffaloes, Val and Sally presented members with £123.17 each to be donated to Knighton and Presteigne junior footballers. Mike Hiles thanked Val and Sally on behalf of the Buffaloes for all the work they had done organising and running the events.

COFFEE MORNING – A coffee morning held at Dolau House by kind permission of Richard and Sarah Watkins raised £339 for St Michael’s and All Angels Church, Dolau.

A large number of people attended the event which had to be held indoors because of the wet weather. There were lots of homemade cakes and other items for sale, plus a raffle. The Rev Geraint Hughes thanked the hosts, Richard and Sarah, and everyone who attended the event and donated items for sale or for the raffle. Raffle winners were Michael Reynolds, Richard Watkins, Glenys Hardwick, Graham George, Barbara Shelton, Catherine Duggan, Pearl Ruell and Sue Jones.