Rescue Our Ruins – Quiz Night

And with just 90 plus day to go until Christmas, we’ve been working hard with Avon Valley Railway on promoting the Santa Specials. A magical trip for youngsters to see Father Christmas and good value too – book at www.avonvalleyrailway.org
On a personal note the company is supporting monthly www.beatingbowelcancer.org to help fund a nurse to answer calls from people anxious about symptoms or diagnosed with this horrible disease.

This is for a brochure we produced promoting the Rescue Our Ruins Appeal at Glastonbury Abbey http://www.glastonburyabbey.com

Given we haven’t even been running as a business for two years yet it’s a fantastic achievement for the whole team and we’re all thrilled – now all we’ve got to do is decide what to wear for the awards dinner in November!!

Under the apple tree in the garden is a time capsule “planted” when we moved in to our house nearly nine years ago.

The children were nine and five and excitedly thought of things to put in the empty fizzy drink bottle which people might find fascinating in years to come.

They rounded up pennies, newspapers including an edition of this one, and wrote letters, found photographs and other trinkets.

The apple tree is in blossom as I write and getting stronger every year; each 12 months brings more fruit although not yet enough to bake a pie.

And there’s a part of me which would like to dig up the time capsule and read those letters written in their childhood handwriting; particularly as the eldest has just left school.

At 18 she is an adult and aside from returning for A-levels, schooldays are no more yet no matter how clichéd it sounds I can’t quite believe where those 18 years have gone.

The capsule came to mind as our neighbour was renovating and found an old paper under the floorboards; I say old but in actual fact it was from the early 1980s but proved an education for her children who are younger than mine.

Television channels were limited to four and dedicated children’s television was nothing like it is today.

I remember telling my girls how when I was their age we didn’t have videos let alone mobile phones and the plethora of gadgets; the response or my youngest: “Just how old are you?”

Not that old really but certainly from a time before technology exploded into our lives.

Which got me thinking again. This week sees the 150^th Royal Bath and West Show which started its life in 1852 when Queen Victoria was on the throne.

Just how different is it today from when our Victorian forefathers started the event and took it on tour including to Bristol?

The components are the same – the latest machinery, the best livestock, innovative ways of farming, showcasing products and fulfilling a mission to educate.

But just like the technology when I was a child has changed, the advancement in what is on show has also changed but fundamentally it remains as it began a showcase and a family day out with traditional entertainment.

I wonder whether our capsule will stay buried for 150 years and just what will our descendants make of the trinkets my girls thought of as treasures or a common part of their life in 2004 including, quite bizarrely, hairbands.

Will they think they are old fashioned or will they think they are useful? Perhaps by the time it is found technology will be so far advanced they won’t even know what a photograph is. And as I muse about this aloud, daughter number two at the age of 14 pipes up: “It all comes down to four simple words….you will never know.”

And, of course, she’s right.

The Bristol and West Land Rover Show takes place at the Bath and West Showground on June 22 and June 22 – a great family day out www.bristolandwestlandrovershow.com

The Royal Bath and West Show is only weeks away – www.bathandwest.com – and it’s an exciting year as it’s the 150^th Show; the first took place in 1852 in Taunton and toured the region before settling at its permanent home in Shepton Mallet. For press day I agreed to dress up as a Victorian woman – it was great fun picking the costume although I don’t think the outfit complete with hoops will become a daily feature of my wardrobe!

Youngest daughter managed to get a part in Seussical the Musical at the Bristol Hippodrome so in my regular column in The Post I questioned whether I was turning into Mrs Worthington – have a read here.  The Show is raising money for a great cause – The Grand Appeal – www.justgiving.com/georgia-Butt/

Remember the symptoms – and join the bowel movement for April! Follow @bowelcancer on twitter for the latest news and there’s also a helpline 08450 719 301 or you can email nurse@beatingbowelcancer.org

New for March – have just become one of the sponsors for the British Farming for the Family section at the Royal Bath and West Show. This year’s show is the 150^th; it started in 1852 in Taunton and apart from world wars has pretty much been held every year since then but the Society which runs the show traces itself back to Bath and 1777. Early bird tickets are on sale until April 7 – www.bathandwest.com – it’s a fabulous day out!

And marking Mother’s Day – a student from Norton Radstock College caring for newborn lambs has made broadcast and print headlines

http://www.nortcoll.ac.uk/news_story.aspx?fldID=176

Well that was a busy month working with Sirona Care & Health on a TV production being aired from January and for Glastonbury Abbey’s participation in the town’s Frost Fayre.

Not forgetting the Santa Specials at Avon Valley Railway and Norton Radstock College’s new Green Skills Academy partnership.

Plus we have been working on the Western Daily Press Business Breakfast launching the Business Guide for 2013. Exciting times.

I’m working again with the Western Daily Press on its annual business breakfast in January – if you want info please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Avon Valley Railway’s Santa Specials are underway and it is such a magical way of spending time helping there and seeing the delight on the faces of so many children when they meet Santa. The excitement in the air is palpable.

Meanwhile at Glastonbury Abbey, it’s preparing for a new year and new season and there’s lots going to be happening in 2013. Keep an eye out on www.glastonburyabbey.com

Norton Radstock College winter magazine produced by my company hits doormats next week – advertising is available for the summer issue in 2013; drop me a line for info on wendy@wendybestjournalist.co.uk

And Sirona Care & Health was the title sponsor for the Bath Chronicle’s Sports Awards where inspirational adults and young people were rewarded for their achievements at a special ceremony at Bath Racecourse in November.

Lots of exciting things coming up for 2013 but in the meantime Merry Christmas to you and yours.