Cliffe Garden Club - The Ancient Egyptians were the first gardeners

Dear Blogger

Message from Margaret

CLIFFE GARDEN CLUB THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, THE FIRST GARDENERS - April 2 2026

See attached poster for details

Booka - An evening with Lis Earle on How to Age

Dear Blogger

Message from Booka Bookshop, Oswestry

AN EVENING WITH LIZ EARLE on HOW TO AGE - 20th April 2026

See attached poster

Join us for an evening with Liz Earle, one of the most respected names in UK wellness and beauty as she talks about her new book How to Age, an inspirational guide to ageing well. So much of what we have been told about ageing – especially as women, is wrong. We're not meant to shrink, fade or be sidelined, we're not here to spend our later years in silent decline. We have just never been shown the full picture of what is possible – or how we can take control of it. But now Liz Earle's new book How to Age is here to blow the cover. The strategies Liz shares in this book are different from anything you have read before. Liz has tried and tested these protocols, combed the scientific papers and cutting-edge reports on cellular renewal and longevity to synthesise the very best evidence-based biohacks and practical, easy-to-implement, daily plans to improve and boost your energy as you age. She has used these same protocols to turn back her biological age by decades and she now feels stronger, happier and more purposeful in her 60s than in any other decade of her life. And in her new book she shares her findings so now you can, too. * Strengthen your body at a cellular level * Understand the primary power of sunlight, water, vibrational energy on your circadian rhythms * Become more resilient to chronic disease and modern viruses * Look and feel more youthful in both appearance and outlook * Use the daily plans in each chapter to achieve your goals Women are living longer but often in poorer health, so grab the reins and add abundant health to your years. Be more youthful, more vibrant now – This is How to Age.  Get ready for an evening full of advice, top tips and inspiration from the champion of women's health!

Further Information 01691 662244 | hello@bookabookshop.co.uk | Message via social media

Whittington Music Festival - news update

Dear Blogger

Message from Whittington Music Festival

Bells to ring out for the Festival! 

 Bellringers from St Oswald's church Oswestry will be at St John the Baptist Whittington to usher in the start of the festival from 6.15 - 7pm on Thursday 14 May. 

What better way to celebrate than with the joyous sound of church bells! 

Saturday 16th May, 4.00 – 4.30pm:  Book Signing with Dr Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason   Kadiatu is a writer, speaker and passionate advocate for music education in schools. Her most recent title To be Young, Gifted and Black has been longlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction. Her 2020 memoir House of Music: Raising the Kanneh-Masons won both the Royal Philharmonic Society Storytelling Award, and the Indie Book Award for Non-Fiction. Come and meet Kadiatu after the family concert where copies will be on sale.

Braimah Kanneh-Mason   Braimah has been named as a Classic FM Rising Star 2026, one of 30 inspiring musicians under 30. Congratulations from all of us.

Three good reasons for booking now   Booking tickets in good time helps the festival in many ways, so now's the time to visit the box office:   whittingtonmusicfestival.littleboxoffice.com/browse Why not encourage neighbours, friends and family to give us a try too, and make life easier for them by offering a lift to Whittington. This would be an especially kind gesture for someone near you who has mobility problems.  Easter is also the perfect time to buy tickets as gifts. After all, we know that the proven health benefits of listening to live music are many, and certainly greater and longer-lasting than a surfeit of chocolate!

Booka - An evening with the detectorists

Dear Blogger

Booka Bookshop event

AN EVENING WITH DETECTORISTS, ELEANOR BRUCE & LUCILLA GRAY

Tuesday 14th April - see attached poster

Free concert to support Children`s Music

Dear Blogger

Message from  Sianjones10@gmail.com forwarded by Ingrid Knowles Oswestry.net

FREE CONCERT to HELP SAVE CHILDREN'S MUSIC!

Please come and hear Ridgeway Chorale, a choir from Hertfordshire, who are performing on behalf of Music MOB, Oswestry's children's music charity, providing free music tuition and instrument loan to children in Oswestry and surrounding areas. Their programme will be very varied. The concert is free but all donations will go to the charity to support more music-making. Some of our own students will be featured during the concert, so don't miss it!

- 3.30pm Saturday 25th April

- Christ Church, Oswestry

- Interval refreshments

- Free entry with donations to Music MOB

Further information by visiting www.musicmob.co.uk 

Road closures in Ruyton XI Towns - a complete mystery

Dear Blogger

I am hoping SOMEONE - Parish Council or Robert Jones Ruyton and Baschurch County Councillor, can sort out the road closures in Ruyton.

I received this from a Mailing list member on Tuesday

In connection with this, (changing the Zebra Crossing to a Puffin Crossing) have you seen the road closure notice for 4 days in April? There is also an additional 11days scheduled in May if you look on the shropshire council website

    https://next.shropshire.gov.uk/roads-and-highways/roadworks-road-closures-and-events/interactive-roadwork-map-all-works/

I checked out closure of Platt Bridge on 30th and 31st March - no times given
 and 
 road closure in Church Street on 7th - 10th April from 9.30am to 3.30pm

Also, 7th to 17th April appears to be COMPLETE CLOSURE of Church Street

Conversion of Zebra crossing to Puffin crossing. Removal of redundant equipment, installation of TS controller, retention sockets, poles, feeder pillar and associated TS equipment. Civils to excavate road crossing during week1 under closure. Peds to have alternative route during footway works. . . . . . .
Footway closure: Alternative route will be provided

    However, I could not find anything about road closure for 11 days in May.

Yesterday, Saturday I asked my original Mailing List correspondent to confirm and got the reply

Have just logged back in to the interactive map and the May dates seem to have been removed. It was showing 11-22 may, but there must have been a rethink. Who knows with the council!

This morning, Sunday, the council website says

Church Street closed April 7th - 10th, 9.30 to 3.30 for conversion of Zebra to Puffin crossing.

and

Church Street April 7th to 17th complete closure.

ALSO,
Coming through the village on Friday, the sign in the village is saying the road will be closed for 3 weeks!! This sign has been put face down a couple of times -  a bit heavy for the wind.
     

I understand the bus company have not been told where or when they can come through Ruyton XI Towns.

If I hear of any useful information about road closures in Ruyton XI Towns,

if only I could find someone with any ability to communicate, I will let you know.

Living in Hopes,
Yoland
   

Booka event - an evening with Dominic Gregory `Lifeboat at end of the world`

Dear Blogger

Message from Booka Bookshop, Oswestry

Join us in either Bridgnorth (Tues 7th April) or Oswestry (Wed 8th April) for an evening with Dominic Gregory, a volunteer on the Dungeness Lifeboat, as he talks about his wonderful new book Lifeboat at the End of the World. On the empty shingle beach of Dungeness, the volunteer crew of the lifeboat await her next launch. It might come in another week. Or it might even happen in the next few seconds… For two hundred years, the Dungeness lifeboat has launched in storms and heavy seas to frigates and barques, trawlers and dinghies. Like all lifeboat stations in the British Isles, it is led by a coxswain and staffed entirely by volunteers. Dominic Gregory volunteers as part of her crew. Dungeness is itself a place apart. An ever-shifting expanse of shingle jutting into the English Channel, it is overshadowed by its nuclear power station and made famous by Derek Jarman's flotsam garden. Dungeness is also where millions of migrating birds and insects first make landfall in the British Isles. A small place perhaps, but one that finds itself now at the centre of one of the biggest political stories of modern times. At the heart of this wonderful book is the lifeboat crew with whom Dominic Gregory serves, many of them from families who have crewed the lifeboat for generations. These are remarkable yet ordinary men and women – who serve as shore crew, or boat crew, or who keep the records and brew the tea. All, in their different ways, give up their time, livelihoods and safety to brave wind, tide and storms, not to mention the peril of navigating between the vast floating skyscrapers that make up so much of modern shipping. Then there is coxswain Stuart Adams whose quiet, competent leadership ensures he acts as the still point in a spinning world. Lifeboat at the End of the World is the first book to depict the experience of what it is like to volunteer on a lifeboat; the smells of the station, the emotions when the call to 'a shout' comes, how the crew is trained, the teamwork and trust, the ethos of the service. And incident aplenty – terrifying rescues both past and present, often to overladen inflatable small craft and their desperate passengers. Gregory's book is non-fiction writing of extraordinary power and immediacy. While most of us will never serve in a lifeboat, we might well find ourselves thankful for their unquestioning and dauntless assistance at sea. Further Information 01691 662244 | hello@bookabookshop.co.uk | Message via social media