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MFPT Newsletters 2006

Apr

May

June

July

October

2007

July

October

December

2008

Massey's Folly Provisional Floor Plans

April Consultation Meeting Rep

September AGM report

Massey's Folly Society Newsletter May 2006

NEW TEAM AT VILLAGE HALL

The new committee for the Farringdon Village Hall - now known as 'Trustees' under the new administrative provisions for the charity are

FARRINGDON VILLAGE HALL : Trustees Donna Corbin - Chair Christine Bohringer - Secretary Mike Findlay - Treasurer Paul Grainger - Vice-Chairman Hugh Bevan Nicky Bovey-Powell Alison de Ledesma David Esp Gillian McCallum Nadya Wagland

MASSEY'S FOLLY PRESERVATION TRUST Mary Roberts Nadya Wagland Gillian McCallum Alison de Ledesma

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AT THE FVH AGM

It was heartening to have such a good turnout for the Farringdon Village Hall AGM on the26th April 2006.
Thank you to everyone who came. It is important for us all to take ownership of Massey's Folly. If it is to be used as a community resource then the community has to vote with its feet about what is wanted and/or needed. Debate is welcomed at all meetings. Thank you again to all those retiring members of the Management Committee.
We are supporting The Farringdon Horticultural Society on the 1st and 2nd of July when they stage the BBC Flog It Show in the Folly and will have an exhibition about the restoration plans.
Please come along

MASSEY'S FOLLY CLEAN UP - 18th June 2006 from 11 am to 2pm

The last clean up of the Folly was on camera and so some of you may have felt a little shy? We did, however, have 15 sterling volunteers, including Vecta Mitchell! What was achieved in a few hours of stopping and starting for filming, was impressive.
The trouble with weeds and grass, however, is that they tend to grow and they love rain and sunshine!
We need people to clear the grounds and others who are prepared to fight the cobwebs, dust and dirt. We need you to bring along tools for whichever job you want to do.
So that we have an idea of numbers, can you ring me on 01420 588644 or e-mail me at donna.corbin@btopenworld.com to confirm that you will be there. Thank you!

Volunteers are needed to help to keep the grounds tidy on a more regular basis. If you think that you could help by just giving say I or 2 hours of your time each month, then please contact us.

 

"JOUR DE FETE"

To coincide with the BBC Road Show which is coming to Farringdon, we are planning a day of activities in the village. As well as an Art Exhibition in The Folly we are keen to stage a traditional style fete.
Organisers Nicky Povey-Howell (587344) & Paul Granger (587269) are putting together ideas for various stalls and ideas and would welcome volunteers, suggestions or the loan of suitable apparatus. If you have a decorating table a small marquee (B&Q style) or a set of stocks (Brian?) or even bunting it would really help. Maybe you can lend us a set of skittles, quoits, shove ha'penny or splat the rat? Can you organise a jam stall, cake stall, nearly new, junk, bookstall, fortune teller, human fruit machine or lucky dip. Who has access to sacks for a sack race or who can commandeer wheelbarrows for a barrow race? We need all ideas, offers of help and of course commitment to come and join in on the day... The only smallish problem is the confirmed date of the actual event as this rests with Aunty Beeb. Watch this space.
Paul Grainger

UP ON THE ROOF

"I sat on the roof, I kicked off the moss, well a few of the verses, they got me quite cross" - according to Elton John (not a Sir at the time). Likewise, only in exceptional circumstances would we want to remove attractive mosses and lichens from tiles on any roof, let alone that of Massey's Folly, but this was show business and the camera demanded some kind of action. So come the screening of the BBC Endemol TV programme "Restoration" on BBC2, you may well see us committing such ecological vandalism in the name of entertainment.
The gutters were a different matter - a fine example of hydroponics but not good for drainage. The initial shots gave no clue that we were on a roof - we could have been in any field or swamp!
The director widened the shot to include a few windows and chimneys etc.
The first action to be filmed was the uprooting a impressively-sized "beanstalk". After serious pulling and tugging it finally came away, to be held aloft like a prize marrow! Requiring a more natural shot, the scene had to be re-taken. So the beanstalk was re-planted, matted down into the fertile mulch as best could be managed. Now we were in for some serious impromptu acting, the "effort" to uproot the offending organic structure having to be invented.
After numerous retakes, we were finally able to get on with something less photogenic but more useful clearing the gutters of vegetation, guano and possibly sphagnum moss - David Bellamy would have loved it!
David Esp and Julie Morgan

BBC RESTORATION VILLAGE FILMING FINISHED.....

Good Griff! They think it's all over... ......... well it is now! (Sorry wrong programme!) Yes! The man has been and the filming has finished. Alas! (right programme!) we now have to wait for the programme to be run to see exactly how life in Farringdon and Massey's Folly will be portrayed.
8 days of filming will be condensed into just 20 minutes of air time. Who will be the stars of the show? So many of you have agreed to take part. It will be tremendous fun to watch when it is televised but even more fun to get everyone you know to watch and to vote for Massey's Folly!
There have been some wonderful moments. I shall never forget Griff interviewing Nigel Pink behind the Folly when every plane in the country flew out of Gatwick, Heathrow, Eastleigh and all private and military air bases. How many takes?
Then there was the thrill of coming down Church Road from Crows Lane toward the Folly to hear 'cue Vicar' when the drama reconstruction team were down! Or was it our oldest resident, Vecta Mitchell, being stopped in the load, driving her car, and giving an interview to Griff!
For me, the work that has been done in filming the programme has begun the process of the village working together toward a common goal.

In the next few months we have a lot to achieve. We still have to Join in with the BBC now in the promotion of Farringdon and the Restoration programme.
To do so, we will be joining forces with Phyllis Watts and all of the Horticultural Society when they bring Flog It! To the village on the 1st July 2006. We will have a stand manned by Jack Warshaw and Conrad Howard along with some volunteers where we can explain, with the coloured plans, what our plans for the Folly are. We can then encourage those who come to the event to vote for us and to get their friends and relatives to do so.
Once we have the date for the Road Show that follows the Restoration broadcast, we will go full steam ahead with our plans for the Farringdon Festival - A.K.A. Jour de Fete. Please, please join in and help us make this a fun day for everyone!
If we succeed in getting into the final then we will be arranging a village viewing of the programme, that will be filmed by Endemol.
So once again, a big, big thank you to everyone who gave up their time to help Endemol to make a film about the Folly and this village. I am sure that you will all be proud to have been a part of it and will enjoy reading the book and watching the DVD for many years to come!
Donna Corbin

Email: donna.corbin@btopenworld.com or marysroberts@btinternet.com

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