DROP-IN LUNCH - The Drop-In Lunch is to be held today, Thursday, July 28, at the home of Mrs Gwyneth Williams of 14 Williams Mead, Tel 01432 851624

CHURCH COUNCIL - Items discussed at the July meeting of the Parochial Church Council were the new hearing loop system for the church, and painting and redecorating the north aisle ready for the Flower Festival at the end of September.

Two new wheelchair ramps had been provided for the entrance and chancel step.

Allocation of stalls to willing helpers for the Garden Party and Fete on August 13 at the Community Hall, was also discussed.

Rev Sue Strutt discussed the strategy for ministry in Tarrington, Yarkhill, Stoke Edith and the Five Hop Churches.

Maurice Smith reported on the special meeting for the selection process for the new Team Rector for the Rural Deanery of Ledbury.

The Friendship Club members and helpers enjoyed a trip down the river from Upton-on-Severn to Tewkesbury on Wednesday, July 13.

The next Friendship Club outing is to Weston-Super-Mare in September.

The Friendship Club (over 60's) meet at the Community Hall every first Wednesday in the month. For details ring Eileen Whiting on 01432 890339

PLANNING EVENT - Held on July 16, in the Community Hall, the village planning meeting attracted just over 100 people and was very successful in providing a significant body of village opinion on what were thought to be the major issues in the community life. It was a community effort in every way, and members of the WI provided sandwiches and home-made cakes. In the free raffle, Jo Lee won the Sunday lunch for two at the Tarrington Arms, Evie Howard the teenager prize of Mountain Boarding, and Patrick Myers won the young persons prize of the horse-riding session. Confronted with a large map of the parish and another on a much larger scale of the village centre, villagers were able to appreciate the area as a whole and contribute ideas on how they wished to see the village develop. There were positive suggestions for footpaths, location of a post box and bus stop, and requests for traffic calming measures. More adventurous ideas featured a village playing field, tennis courts and even a swimming pool, and a proposal to re-open Stoke Edith Station received considerable support.

QUESTIONNAIRE - All the ideas put forward will now be studied in detail by members of the Steering Committee and used in the preparation of a questionnaire to be distributed to every resident in the village in the autumn. There will also be a separate questionnaire for