NEXT COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING
Our next Community Council meeting will be held on
Tuesday 7th September @ McFarlan Hall
(Subject to Covid Regulations)
This is the Annual General Meeting. We are looking for new members so, if you’d be interested in joining, please let Sue know by contacting her on 870249.
CALENDAR 2022
Can we thank all of those who entered photos for our Calendar we were really surprised by the entries we received and the quality of the photos submitted. Judging was a hard task and we apologise if you were not selected on this occasion. The successful photos were submitted by:-
| Kirsty Sloan | John Gilbert |
| Lindsay Cook | Jim Kelly |
| Karen Fraser | Alicia Beesley |
| Sabrina Smith | Sue Gilbert |
The calendar will be going to print shortly and are available to order now at £5 each by contacting Sue on 870 249 or e mailing on j156gilbert@btinternet.com
Thank you all for your support in this new venture.
SAVINGS BANK MUSEUM UPDATE
Since our last newsletter in early June we’ve had good news about the Savings Bank Museum in Ruthwell.
TSB have listened to concerns about the loss of the museum and now propose to transfer the museum and its entire collection to a community organisation. We’d like to thank everyone who helped support the case for retaining the museum.
Over the last few weeks the Community Council, together with other organisations including Ruthwell Church, the Crichton Trust and Foundation, Annandale Distillery, Cllr Richard Brodie (Devil’s Porridge Museum) and Dumfries and Galloway Council, have been working with TSB on the details involved in the community transfer process, including gathering information on the property, its contents and operating costs.
We’re hoping to establish a new organisation with charitable status to own and manage the museum. This process will take some time and, as the next step, we’re aiming to create a Steering Group, with representation from the local community.
The Steering Group will be tasked with
- deciding the most appropriate structure for a new organisation to own and manage the museum, its contents, and guiding its future direction.
- preparing a business plan for the museum
If you’d be interested in taking part in the Steering Group, or helping the museum project in any way, please contact Sue on 01387 870 249 or email j156gilbert@btinternet.com
Cummertrees, Mouswald & Ruthwell Parish
The Church is open for regular Sunday worship.
Services are held at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday.
If you require any further information please contact Fiona on 07803 171007
DOG WALKING
We’ve received reports of dogs being let off their leads and not under control on various lanes within the parish. Our woods are habitats for red squirrels, young deer and other wildlife; dogs roaming free can cause disturbance and distress to these and other animals.
May we respectfully request that, whilst enjoying our lovely countryside, please keep your animals under control to avoid stress to other walkers and our wildlife
LOCAL AUTHOR
You may have seen the recent items in our local press on the debut book by Rob Power from Clarencefield.
Rob is a long time resident and great supporter of the Powfoot Golf Club, we wish him well with the new novel “Nexus of Fate” (available via Amazon).
KEEP THE COUNTRYSIDE TIDY
D&G Council have invested in litter pick kits to support local volunteers to assist with picking up litter in our streets, neighbourhoods, open spaces and other public areas; either through organised community activity or for individuals when out walking and enjoying our region, as an active citizen.
If you’d like to help and receive a litter pick pack, please contact our local Ward Officer – Jaime.Nicholson@dumgal.gov.uk . The number of kits available are limited so apply soon.
MCFARLAN HALL UPDATE
It’s been 18 months since the hall was closed, so we’re really pleased to say that (Covid Permitting) the hall will be RE-OPENING from 1st September.
We’re initially opening to our smaller, regular groups then gradually progressing to bigger events.
However, as with everything else at this time, safety is our prime concern so we’re asking you to remain cautious and stay within the Covid Guidelines. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be setting out guidelines for users and ensuring that everything at the hall is “ship shape”. We look forward to seeing you all at the Hall once more.
The only positive aspects are that we’ve been able to make good progress with our Improvements Programme during Closure and a UK Government grant meant we’ve been able to buy “PPE” equipment & meet our regular bills without drawing on the funds we’d raised.
COFFEE MORNING – DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED
We’re planning to run a ‘Trial’ Coffee Morning, hopefully in early October or November. To minimise risk we initially plan to return with limited numbers; phone booking in advance to maintain “social distancing”; adopting a simplified format initially we’ll just serve tea, coffee & biscuits.
In the following months we hope to make a progressive return to our full menu and a much more ‘normal’ format.
It’s been a very long time coming but we look forward to welcoming you all back to our Coffee Mornings once again.