NEXT COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING
Our next Community Council meeting will be held on
Tuesday 11TH July 2021 @ 7.30 p.m. McFarlan Hall
CALENDAR 2022
We’ve received a good number of photos for the calendar but more are still welcome, particularly if you have photos of the parish during the winter months.
Photos don’t have to have been taken this year but we do want it to be local – within the parish of Ruthwell & Clarencefield (i.e. pictures of Criffel or across the Solway but not outside the parish, – Annan, Powfoot, etc.)
If you’d like to take part and submit a photo, we can accept entries up until 30th June 2021 so there’s still plenty of time. We’ll be making the selection at our July meeting.
Entries can be e-mailed (jpeg files please) to j156gilbert@btinternet.com
ANNUAL ROBERT BURNS SERVICE
The Annual Burns Service will be held at the Brow Well on Wednesday 21st July @ 7.00 p.m.
SAVINGS BANK MUSEUM UPDATE
You will by now have heard that the TSB are proposing to close the Savings Bank Museum in Ruthwell and move its display items & historic archive, linked to Rev. Henry Duncan & our local history, 90 miles away to their Edinburgh Head Office.
The museum is itself an historic part of Dumfrieshire’s heritage, being the cottage where Henry Duncan (restorer of the historic Ruthwell Cross) founded the world’s first peoples Savings Bank
We must fight to save this historic museum which forms an integral part of the hugely important Visitor’s Trail of our area which also includes Ruthwell Church and the Brow Well. Many of the items it houses were donated by local people; we urge those that donated such items or their families to contact TSB to demand their return so they can be kept in our area.
We need your support to help us to get the TSB to reverse their decision. Our Councillors, our MSPs, our MP and many others are already actively supporting us, but we need as much local support as possible to strengthen our case and make TSB realise the damage their plan will do to our area and their reputation.
We urgently need as many people as possible to please write or contact the CEO of the TSB seeking to save the museum; her contact details are;
Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer for TSB , Henry Duncan House, 120 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4LH
Email: debbie.crosbie@tsb.co.uk
Due to lobbying, TSB has now agreed to meet with ‘stakeholders’ to discuss the future of the museum’s contents; a provisional date of 11th June has been set for this and we’ll keep you informed of the outcome of those talks.
Ideally we want the TSB to reverse their decision or at least put their plan “on hold” to allow proper consultation with the community on the future, not only of the building but more importantly its historic archive. This is an important part of our local history; it should not be closed & its contents moved to Edinburgh.
Notice from Cummertrees Mouswald & Ruthwell Parish
RUTHWELL CHURCH REOPENING
SUNDAY 13TH JUNE 2021 at 10.30a.m.
CONGREGATIONAL CONTACT IS FIONA ON 07803 171007
We’ are delighted to announce that Ruthwell Church is now ready to reopen.
The regulations have all been cleared and we are now free to welcome members and friends back.
We will also be able to sing again albeit with our masks on.
We have to follow the usual rules with particular attention to the following.
- Masks must be worn at all times.
- Hand sanitiser is available at the door.
- There will be no bibles/hymn books available so bring your own.
Anyone who doesn’t have a hymn book, phone Fiona and arrangements will be made. - 2 metre distancing must be observed at all times. Seating has been arranged accordingly.
Elders will be available to assist with directions etc - Bring your own cushion! We have had to remove the soft furnishing from the seats for cleaning reasons.
You are welcome to bring your own cushion and take it home with you. - Contact details including name and phone number or email will be taken at the door on entry.
We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday 13th for a celebration of our wee church reopening.
If anyone has any queries, please ring
Fiona on 07803 17100
McFARLAN HALL
We’re very pleased to report that, as part of the ongoing refurbishment of the Hall new, more efficient LED lighting has now been installed in the main Hall and Store Room, replacing the obsolete fluorescent units and significantly improving the quality of the hall’s lighting
About the only positive aspect of the Covid 19 Shutdown (which sadly is now well past its 1st Anniversary) is that we’ve been able to continue our improvement programme during “lockdown”.
We want to re-open the hall, as soon as it’s safe and legal to do so; the committee are keeping the situation under continual review and we’ll keep you informed. Keep watching for updates.
We plan to bring the Hall back into use on a cautious basis, starting with smaller groups and gradually progressing to larger groups and events. Realistically this process is likely to be a Marathon not a Sprint. We don’t intend putting any of our much-missed users at risk
TENNIS COACHING – SUMMER HOLIDAYS
We received a request to consider arranging some Tennis Coaching for younger members of our Community over the Summer Holidays.
We’ve managed to book Mark Sindall who was going to undertake this for us last year; unfortunately we had to cancel due to the lockdowns. Mark has set aside two dates for us
Friday 2nd July & Friday 30th July
Children’s Sessions will run
10.00 – 12.00 for 5-9years
12.00 – 2.00p.m. for 10+.
The times will be the same for both days.
We’ve also set aside some funding fo Adults Sessions which would be run 6.00 – 7.00 p.m. on the same days.
Mark will provide all the equipment needed.
If you’d like to take part in the coaching you do need to book, we will require the name of the child taking part, their age, contact details, any medical issues & name of adult who will be accompanying the child.
Adults will also need to book if they wish to take part in the evening sessions.
If you wish to book please contact Sue on 01387 870249 or e mail me on j156gilbert@btinternet.com.