From the Horse's Mouth TRACEY LOCKYER 2 SUMMER I S SUE | J ULY 2 0 2 2 Shapwick Starlets WI On the Friday morning alone, with the smell of bacon wafting through the marquee, we served over 300 bacon rolls. And for those with a sweet tooth there were delicious cakes and scones to choose from. It was quite a challenge when one of the first orders to come in was for 17 baps, which meant there was a short wait for following orders, however our team were on top form! Our speaker for our May meeting was Charlotte, Wildlife Release Manager from Secret World Wildlife Rescue. Charlotte was very informative and funny and told us tales of some of the releases and what her work involves. There was a slight technology issue as Charlotte's laptop and our projector were not compatible and for some reason the PowerPoint sped up the video of a badger release, so it was turbo charged. Made everyone laugh though! And as the Bath and West Show was back for 2022, we were happy to send five volunteers to help out in the refreshments marquee on the Friday and Saturday. Each WI group had made their own unique bunting which was displayed in the marquee and looked amazing. Thank you to Dora for knitting and Amanda (pictured) for stitching ours which looked stunning and was also displayed in our tent at the Shapwick Jam. ewes and rams had their coats removed. A very hard, back-breaking job! The wool is rolled, put into bags, and sent to the British Wool Board at South Molton. You receive your money in arrears for the wool. During the COVID lockdown they struggled to sell wool, and last year I had to pay them money for taking it! I have just received this year's payment: for nearly 400 kgs I got £58!! Gone are the days wool brought a profit. SUE SELLECK Our speaker for June was Jane from Canine Concern, a charity that makes care dog visits to those who may benefit the most from their service, such as care homes, hospitals, work places and schools. If anyone would like to come along to see what we get up to, you would be more than welcome. We meet the second Tuesday of each month in Shapwick Village Hall at 7.30 pm. You can find us on Facebook - Shapwick Starlets WI. Shapwick Jam's Back! SIMON DAWES Wow, what a blast! Thank you to everyone who came and enjoyed the Jam; we had an amazing time. A sunny chilled afternoon with some great individual performances and a fantastic packed evening and great atmosphere created by you! Like all post-COVID (or so it seemed) events, encouraging ticket sales was a challenge, but in the end you never let us down and for that we are all truly grateful. An amazing day doesn’t happen without fabulous support. Firstly my thanks to all the artists who performed: the Jam is all about live sound and we were fortunate to have a great crosssection of music genres. To the sound team, Jacob Dawes and John Wood, to the tent crew from Ashcott Beer Festival and a special thank-you to Roger Stacey for the use of the fencing, to Tony and Hazel at Festive Lizards for donating the canvas for our new large marquee and to Tim and Julia Cann for lending us theirs. To the Shapwick Starlets for a great afternoon of tea and cake and to the Jam burger crew, Nerina and Jude and all of the team who kept us fed during the evening. To the bar team, Bridget, Stuart, Jen, Chloe, Nick, Ali, James and Connie: you changing climate, ever in fear of a poor crop. The next sheep job is weaning the lambs off their mothers, so I apologise in advance if it's noisy for a few days. Then a well earned rest for the girls before the cycle starts all again in September ☺️ Next issue: looking back at a farming childhood at Bowerings Farm. were fab! To the rest of the Jam organising team, John, Kate and Fin and those from the village who helped with set up and shake down … a massive thank-you! Finally, to Steve Dunster for all his fantastic support in both the planning and pulling it all together. It costs £3 to shear a ram and £1.50 for a ewe. So now shearing costs me money, but for health and hygiene reasons it needs to be done. The village farmers have been busy silaging and haymaking, gathering in the animal food for the winter: trying to beat our everWith lambing truly over and lambs beginning to be fit for market, the next job was shearing. One hot Saturday, 165 Pics: Tallulah Stringer & Elissa Hamlett
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NzI=