Thank you to all that came along to the Beating of the Bounds this year. Please find some photos of the event.
En route around Tetbury during the Beating of the Bounds - Millenium Green
The Beating of the Bounds start place - Bath Bridge
The Feoffees and Thirteen of Tetbury
Since my last article, members have attended a number of events in our community and this included the Lions Club organised Tetbury Care Day, which brought organisations from within our community together with professional bodies, to look at how we can provide the best care for all our residents. This was a really useful day and I am sure that we will all benefit from this initial meeting and its findings in the future.
Dr Tony Walsh gave a very successful talk to the Malmesbury Probus Club on our history and another talk is planned for Westonbirt Ladies this month. If you are part of a group who would welcome an interesting, historic talk, please contact us directly via our website.
We are planning to bring The Market Hall into the 21st Century by installing Wi-Fi, however, as you can imagine getting this in an historic, listed building is proving to be a challenge, however we will be shortly testing systems and look forward to updating you in the near future.
Dates for your diary:
- 9th/10th September – Heritage Weekend in The Market Hall
- Beating of the Bounds – Date to be confirmed
This month we have been pleased to support the following groups/individuals with grants:
- Christmas in Tetbury – support for lights
- Tetbury Town FC Under 12’s trip to France
- Harriet Dove – support for studies
- Repairs to The Feoffee Clock, which is sited at St Mary’s School
After jointly giving over 45 years of service to The Feoffees and Thirteen, I am sad to report that we have to say goodbye to two of our hard working group. Firstly, after 30 years of service to both the Thirteen and the Feoffees, John Sheppard has retired. His expertise in the management and repairs of The Market House has been invaluable to the group and his hard work and commitment to keeping this building in such a wonderful condition has allowed it to become the ‘jewel in the centre of town’. We are grateful to him for his service and will miss his support and commitment. His vacancy on The Feoffees will be filled by Thirteen – Dave Norris – we welcome him and look forward to working with him, a new member of the Thirteen will be appointed in due course. Secondly, Campbell Higgins who has been our clerk for 15 years will be standing down as Treasurer at the end of September. Campbell undertook the role of Clerk and Treasurer initially and more recently has acted as our Treasurer, following the appointment of a new clerk. Our group has benefitted greatly from his professionalism and experience and we are grateful for his commitment to our group. The Feoffees and Thirteen would like to publicly acknowledge and thank both John and Campbell for their service to the town.
On another note, we have received a number of complaints from the residents at the bottom of Gumstool Hill and the Millennium Green regarding dog fouling on the grass. This is a public space which we voluntarily provide and maintain for the benefit of the entire town and we respectfully ask that all dog owners are responsible and remove any fouling which occurs – thank you.
By the time you read this, Tony Walsh will have given a further historical talk on The Feoffees our history to the Malmesbury Probus Club – if you have a club who would be interested in a talk or tour of The Market House, please contact us.
Finally, this month we have been able to support Tetbury Hospital with the funding to purchase a new Video Lryngoscope and we have been pleased to see that our grants to Sir William Romney’s School and St Mary’s School has resulted in a successful Field Trip for Yearpupils to Shropshire and new tables for the Primary School.
If you would like to know more about the type of grants and support available, please do not hesitate to contact us. Educational or Training Grants, as well as discretionary Grants to the town’s clubs and societies are available by application to the Feoffees at www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk - Lance Vick – Chairman
THE ANNUAL BEATING
OF THE BOUNDS
SATURDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2017
MEET AT 9.30am UNDER
BATH BRIDGE
FOLLOWED BY COFFEE AND THE PRESENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTS OF THE FEOFFEE
IN THE MARKET HALL
ALL WELCOME
In anticipation of the current treasurer's departure on 30th September 2017 the Feoffees of Tetbury are seeking a replacement to take on this role.
The position involves the maintenance and operation of the day to day financial transactions relating to the three charities under The Feoffees trusteeship. Apart from normal income and expenditure items the treasurer also deals with the issue, recording and collection of licence fees relating to car parking bays on property owned by the charities
Duties also include the preparation of monthly management reports and financial statements on current bank account movements and balances for presentation and discussion at monthly trustee meetings. Experience is required up to statutory account level for submission of annual accounts for annual examination/audit. A working knowledge of VAT would also be advantageous to deal with a partial registration situation. Salary to be negotiated with the successful candidate.
Further details of the work involved can be obtained from Mr C Higgins (01666 502541) - 8 Park Close, Tetbury or the clerk Mrs Alison McKay (01666 504331). Applications should be sent by July 17th 2017 for the attention of: The Clerk to the Feoffees via Email: ajmckay@hotmail.co.uk or by post to 4 Cornwall Close, Tetbury, GL8 8JD
With the long awaited arrival of Spring, it was wonderful to see some of the local children having fun splashing in Cutwell while enjoying the sunshine. The Feoffees installed new kerbing to the area last year and look forward to planting a new Oak tree soon which has been kindly donated by HRH The Prince of Wales and will soon be on its way to us from Highgrove.
We said a sad farewell to John Weaver who took his retirement after serving 19 years as a member of the Thirteen and 6 years as a member of the Feoffees. John has been very valued by the trustees who would like to thank him for all his hard work and dedication. The Chairman, Lance Vick, was pleased to present Mr Weaver with a certificate awarding him the status of Feoffee Emeritus.
While John will be much missed, the trustees are delighted to announce that Richard Cooper has been elected by the Thirteen to join the trustees as a member of the Feoffees. Mr Vick presented Mr Cooper with his Feoffee gold badge and welcomed him to the Feoffees.
The official opening of Phase 1 of the Tetbury Goods Shed was suitably recognised with the attendance of HRH Prince of Wales, a local resident and committed supporter of good causes in Tetbury.
Christmas preparations are well underway outside the Market House
Tetbury's past was celebrated again this year despite the inclement conditions
Adults, children and even hardy dogs turned up for the Beating of the Bounds on October 1st. We even initially had company from an interested sheep but they were unable to join us!
The event is an Anglo-Saxon ceremony associated with harvest time and has taken place in the town for hundreds of years.
Originally boys were beaten at various points of the walk to make them remember the boundary of the town but much to the relief of youngsters that part of the tradition ceased a long time ago.
This year the Beating of the Bounds ended with a presentation at the Market House from Tetbury group, the Feoffees who organised the event.
An informative and illuminating walk led by Thirteen member Dr Tony Walsh was taken with a welcome break at Thirteen member Pam Bird's house and she managed to organise a break in the weather for the 'bounders' also. Our thanks to both of them for their time, hospitality and knowledge.
Our new website has been launched and provides a more clear and accessible way to get hold of information about the Feoffees and understand our work.
It is also the best way to make applications for grants from the Trusts that the Feoffees administer on behalf of the people of Tetbury.
We would welcome your feedback via the Contact Page with any suggestions for improvements.