The Rode Village Festival Village Day will take place on Saturday 17th July

Starting at 12:00 on the playing fields

Sarah Jane Honeywell of Cbeebies will be opening the fete and performing a short show

Produce Show

Stalls

Games

Food

Drink

Classic Cars

Chicken Splat

Please note – Dogs are not allowed to be bought onto the Playing Fields

An astonishing line up for this year’s Folk Night which kicks off the 2010 Rode Village Festival:

The Real Cheesemakers featuring the Revd. Philip Hawthorn – a mixture of traditional songs and ditties about trousers – defies description – just unbelievable!

Corryvrecken - A Mother and Daughter duo who have been singing traditional songs together for over 20 years – spellbinding!

Geoff Fry and Sue Walker - Acoustic Americana and Blues – They’ll take you deep into the heart of the U.S.

Captain Banana and his Selection of Vegetables – Raucous traditional irish tunes – expect foot-stomping and clapping!

Tickets are available in advance from Rode Post Office or £5 on the door – Bar and food – a great evening out.

This perfect example of a country house murder has inspired novels by many writers including Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. 

The murder in 1860 of a 4 year old boy discovered at the bottom of a garden privy has continued to capture the imagination of the public and turned everyone into amateur detectives.  Such is the interest in this murder that yet a further book, Paul Chambers’ ‘Murder Most Foul’ has recently been published about the Rode murder.

Thought to be only the third time in 150 years that the gardens at Road Hill House (now called Langham House) have been opened to the public, this is therefore a rare chance to see the magnificent gardens.  The gardens of Langham House will be open by kind permission of Chris & Stephanie Lyons. 

A second Rode garden, Rivermead, is also going to be open on July 4th as part of Rode’s Open Gardens.  Described as ‘one of the remarkable small gardens in Somerset’, this garden is a series of miniature tableaux and are full of exotic plants. It is the result of over 50 years work by owner Micheal Sparey. 



The Rode Open Gardens Event is in aid of the Heart of Rode Appeal, an Appeal tasked to raise £60,000 to fund improvements to Rode’s ancient village church of St Lawrence.

Both gardens are open from 14:00 through to 17:00 on Sunday July 4th. Tickets are available in advance at £4 each from Rode Post Office or £5 on the Gate on July 4th.

Monday 10th May from 10am – 12pm

Come and enjoy a typical session at Rode Pre-School.  It will be a fun time for parents and children.

We are delighted to say that Ofsted inspected the pre-school in March and found that the children “benefit from accessing a stimulating play environment”  and that the “children are well cared for in a secure environment.”

Come and meet the staff and members of the committee

Refreshments will be available

NEARLY NEW SALE

Pre -School are also hosting a nearly new sale of childrens’ clothes, toys and equipment for all ages

Saturday 8th May,  10am – 12pm

Memorial Hall, High Street, Rode

£1 on the door

refreshments will be available

Why not book at table for £7 and have a clear out!

For further information regarding the open morning or the sale, please call Sarah Coumbe 831045

The Link is available from Rode village Post Office for 60p (there’s a stand on the windowsill), and while we’re on the subject of recipes, it’s worth remembering that every recipe featured in The Link wins the sender a bottle of Fussel’s rapeseed oil.

If you put Rode, Somerset into Google maps you can drag the little orange man on the toolbar into the map of Rode, and you will find yourself looking at Rode from summer 2009.

There were quite a few people out and about  in the village then, are you one of them?

“The PCC has plans approved to convert the existing vestry area of the church to a small meeting room equipped with a loo and facilities to allow us to make and serve drinks and wash up afterwards. (At the moment someone takes the dirty cups home in a bucket). The plans are quite straightforward but as you would expect with a listed building it still comes to a considerable amount of money- £60,000. More information can be found here.” says Revd Nigel Done.

There is a very special Family Service on February 14th (Valentine’s Day) to celebrate and give thanks for the love in your life. It might be someone you have recently fallen for, or been married to for twenty years or an elderly parent you appreciate anew. At this service the congregation will be building a big heart to signify the love that is shared in our community and receive donations towards securing the future of the village church.

The service starts at 10:45am, Sunday 14th February.

It’s packed with local news, reports on community activities and information, as well as being a great local directory for local businesses. It’s not just for Rode, it covers Tellisford, Woolverton and Farleigh Hungerford too. There’s even a puzzle page now.

Pop into the post office and pick up a copy, or even better, subscribe to the monthly magazine. email link@rodevillage.com for details of how to subscribe.

Did you spot the ‘deliberate’ mistake in this month’s Link?

Just in case you didn’t, here it is:

It was deliberate, honestly

Reports abound of locals gnashing their teeth in despair after being told there are no tickets left.

As half the fun of the show is audience participation, three sell-out nights will make for a terrific evening of entertainment, no matter which night you attend if you are lucky enough to have a ticket.

If you are going to miss out through not having a ticket, you can at least console yourself by picking up a copy of the February edition of the Link, where pantoman Gary Holloway reveals the music that makes him tick in a desert island discs interview.

With plenty of audience participation required, and the prospect of your friends and neighbours belting out some Abba classics, you will be kicking yourself if you miss it.