Welcome to First Tuesday's March Edition

 
Welcome to the March Issue of First Tuesday. In it you'll find promotions and events running throughout the whole of this month. If you enjoy receiving your copy of First Tuesday every month, please forward to any friends you think may benefit too, using our Forward to a Friend button below. Many thanks and we look forward to keeping you updated on events and promotions in Ilminster throughout the year.

Roadworks along Station Road carrying out essential drainage works are due to be finished by March 29th but we hope you are all still finding your way into Ilminster to visit our fantastic range of independent shops and the exciting events we've got going on this month. See below for a special delivery offer from Bonners and Ilminster Home Hardware!

The First Tuesday team wish all our subscribers both a happy Mothering Sunday and happy Easter.


The Editor  
 
 
 
  
Richard Stent Optometrist
Offer for March 

 
Richard Stent Optometrist 
Market Square 
Ilminster

01460 53921 
 


Two new products join our painted wooden garden accessory range this month. A new obelisk just right for adding height to your garden design whilst giving support to your plants.

We also have a new Beehive garden storage box with a zinc roof - great for wellies, pots and small garden tools! Very useful and also very stylish! Choose you colour from our lovely range of paint shades. See website for the full range and further details!



 
Don't forget Mother's Day on March 6th - we have a great range of gifts sure to suit that special lady!
 


 
Mark Hebron - Collecting Bras for Cancer Research



After agreeing to site a 'bra bank' in the salon, Ilminster hairdresser Mark Hebron, and his team of lovely ladies led by Claire Hebron, are busy collecting bras to help raise funds for Cancer Research charities.

Linda Piggott, President of the Rotary Club of Ilminster, said, 'This is a Rotary led initiative to collect unwanted bras to support a nationwide scheme. For some months now we have been looking to find a local business to help us gain wider public awareness of this. We felt that a business that sees a lot of female footfall, such as Hebron's, would be ideal and I am thrilled that they have decided to help us. We already have a large number of bars donated, and now we have a central collection point in the town, which is brilliant news.'

If you have any unwanted bras you would like to donate just pop into Mark Hebron Tuesdays to Saturdays and hand them to any member of the team.  
 
Article and photograph courtesy of Steve Sowden and the new www.ilminsterpress.co.uk
p.s. Don't forget Mark Hebron gift vouchers are the perfect Mothers' Day present!

Minster Pharmacy

Easter offers From BRONNLEY - Easter Orchid Soap  £3.99 Each
Selected Bronnley items £2 off


Vogel Atrogel now on special offer. 10% off normal price.
"As effective as ibuprofen gel" for muscular aches, pains and stiffness, Sprains, Bruises and swelling after injury.

Therapy Centre

3 new therapists starting soon ...
Lucy Aykroyd - Swedish Massage
Michael Kent - Kinesiology
Caroline Reaedon - Reiki

Watch out for our new website which is going online this month

 



Monday 29th February new March Menu starts in MY Eating Place and includes Chicken Cordon Bleu, with New Potatoes, Vegetables & Garlic Butter and Battered Cod Cheeks with Triple Cooked Chips amongst other things.



1st March, 7.30pm "Creative Connect".  Bring along some knitting, scrap booking or anything creative and enjoy some chitchat and tea or coffee.



6th March, 10.30am  we are celebrating Mums everywhere at our Mothers Day themed Cafe Church. Bring Mum along for a lovely coffee and a spot of breakfast, all welcome.

15th March, 7.30pm "Connect with Photography" continue their focus on the Blackdown Hills with plans for another exhibition later this year.  Photographers of all abilities are welcomed, do get in touch if you would like to know more. One of our members Judy Craig is sharing a taster of her recent challenge, 'to take a photograph each day for a year!' with us in MY Eating Place throughout March, do pop in and take a look at her work.

24th March, 2pm Gardeners Gathering. Join like-minded folk for a spot of gardening conversation, share tips, ask questions and help us plan our next phase of planting for the MY gardens.  There is plenty of opportunities to get your hands dirty too if you'd like to get more involved as the weather improves.

27th March from 10.30am Easter Celebration Service.  Please join us, you would be most welcome.

Monks Yard site will be closed over Easter from Good Friday 25th March through to Easter Monday 28th March, reopening on Tuesday 29th.

Throughout March we are joining with Ilminster Lions in raising money for the children's hospice by running a raffle to win an enormous Easter Egg.  Wednesday 30th will be our MY Community Day for the month where we will continue to support Ilminster Lions with their fundraising.



Office  01460 200020
Cafe 01460 259286
enquiries@themonksyard.co.uk
 
 
           
What's On In March At The Warehouse Theatre 
            

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

By CS Lewis - adapted by Malcolm Young

10th to 12th March at 7.30pm and 12th March 2.30pm

 

When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy stumble upon an enchanted wardrobe in an old country mansion, they discover that it's a gateway to another world. A world where animals speak and mythical creatures roam. A magical world called Narnia.

A fantastical adventure begins but the four soon realise that something is very wrong in Narnia. The wicked White Witch has cast a spell bringing about an external winter. Now the children must find the courage within themselves to break the spell and reinstate Narnia's rightful ruler, Aslan the lion, to his throne.

 

Full details of all three events: http://www.thewarehousetheatre.org.uk


Tickets:
Box Office at Lanes Garden Shop, Silver Street, Ilminster
Monday - Saturday, 10am - 4pm or phone 07943 779880

Costume hire: from only £5 per outfit.
Wardrobe open every Wednesday morning, 10.00am - 11.30am

 
             
            
Forthcoming courses at Somerset Skills & Learning, Ditton Street, Ilminster.
Call us now to book your place on 01460 53195 or visit our website www.sslcic.co.uk

Where
Course No.
Day
Course Title
Start Time
End Time
Start Date
End Date
Ilminster
ILD06
Thursday
Get to grips with your Android tablet/I Pad
10:00
12:00
14/04/16
12/05/16
Ilminster
ILD09
Thursday
Create your own website
1:00
3:00
21/04/16
19/05/16
Ilminster
ILD07
Thursday
Useful Apps for your
tablets/phones
10:00
12:00
19/05/16
26/05/16
Ilminster
ILD08
Thursday
How to use Social Media - Facebook/Twitter
10:00
12:00
09/06/16
23/06/16


Somerset Skills & Learning CIC, 47 Ditton Street, Ilminster, TA19 0BW
 
           
           
Spotlight on Ilminster Town Crier, Andrew Fox
 


 
In case you haven't heard him yet or indeed seen him in his colourful regalia, here's a quick introduction to our town crier, Andrew Fox.

Andrew was born in Kent of mixed Welsh, Scottish and English heritage in 1944.  After a wide ranging working life including banking, the Police, Royal Air Force, Fire Brigade and Head of Security in Eton College with side excursions into Sea Cadet Corps (RNR) service, his wife, Julie and he retired to Westport in February 2008. They only wish they had done this sooner as they both love Somerset and especially Ilminster.
 
Andrew was delighted to be approached by a former Mayor of Ilminster and the Chair of the Chamber of Trade to become Ilminster's Town Crier.  He joined the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers which enables him to enter competitions nationwide to 'cry' the  joys and attributes of Ilminster Town.
 
What is a 'Cry'?

Cries can vary from simple, short factual announcements to more complex cries.  For competitions there is a set format, word limit and often a required theme.  Cries can be serious, humorous or highly emotional. They are usually prose but many are rhymed. They must always be preceded by three cries of OYEZ, the traditional summons to listen and end with a loyal GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

Andrew says his duties are two fold:

1) To publicise and support events and special occasions related to the town by crying the necessary information in the market House and various points around the town. This would be in support of local charities, community projects, local businesses and the public.

2) To advertise and promote the town far and wide through crying its virtues in competitions. Last year
with his escort Julie, he attended competitions from Liskeard to Hatherleigh, Seaton to Widdecombe and even ventured as far as Hastings. More than ten towns have been urged to visit Ilminster. Andrew won Somerset Champion Crier in Frome and did well in other competitions. Ilminster inaugurated also its own competition last May which was very successful, so successful in fact that it is being run again.

This year's Ilminster Town Criers' Competition will be held on Saturday 7th May outside the Market House in Ilminster. This is a colourful event with a parade down East Street at 11:00am followed by Competition cries from 11:15 and 2:15. Put it in your diary and make a day of it with lunch at one of the many cafes, pubs and restaurants.

Andrew would like to hear from charities, community groups and businesses your event plans for the coming year so that he can help promote you. He is also happy to perform as Master of Ceremonies or Toastmaster at weddings, events and celebrations.

So what will it cost you? If you are a charity or community group: NOTHING!
If it is a business or personal announcement or function, a voluntary donation of your choice to either of his two charities (the Royal British Legion and the Sea Cadet Corps) is all he asks. In the past this has been £20 to £50 depending on time spent. Many Town Criers can charge £300 and upwards as it is their living.

For more information just email Andrew at this address: fox.j@sky.com

Meeting House

 
WHAT'S ON in March 2016
 
Art
 
TWO TELL TALES
Monday 29th February to Saturday 19th March
 

Coldwell & Coldwell are a creative couple whose highly individual approaches to making art aims to leave visitors with 'a smile in the mind'. Weaving images from art history with his own inventive narratives, Gordon Coldwell's unique evolutions are open to many interpretations - "It's all up to the viewer" says Gordon.  Come along and see what you think!

Caron Coldwell's colourful papier mâché sculptures are like museum exhibits - layered with references to history, literature and popular culture they have a cheerful, icon-like familiarity.
Hours in the making, they are true labours of love.

There will be lots to see in this rich and playful exhibition - come and enter the world of Coldwell & Coldwell!


COLOUR IN THE HILLS 
Monday 21st March to Saturday 9th April
 
JUNE DOBSON painter and ceramicist
LOUISE COTTEY textile artist
ROSEMARY WARD - SMITH Painter

This exhibition brings together for the first time three friends who live and work in the Blackdown Hills and wish to share their love of colour in the landscape.

June lovingly paints landscape and farm and wild creatures of the hills and is also an experienced and inventive ceramicist.  Clay, encouraged and guided by her hands takes on unexpected interpretations of natural forms and her painterly glazes combine into vibrants.

Louise's textile pieces are hand woven using fine worsted wool using lace-making techniques.  Her work grows into large highly coloured pieces reflecting forms found throughout the hill's peaks and troughs using the wools from local sheep.

Rosemary's close-up and colourful paintings will help you focus in on the man-made and natural forms brought into these hills by the people who have lived there over many years.


Music 

Friday 11th March at 8.00pm (pre-show supper at 7:00pm)
Vintage jazz -DES BACON and his RED HOT SYNCOPATORS
 
Tickets £16 (£29 including pre-show supper) can be booked on 01460 54973

Imagine the late 1920s in the United States of America, the era of flappers, gangsters and bathtub gin; when people danced the Charleston, the Black Bottom and the Lindy Hop; when the phonograph, the wireless and the dance hall were modern crazes. Des Bacon and his band will take us there.

They will play for us many of the countless classic songs and tunes from that era, each in the particular style and technique used when they were recorded, recreating the music with all its original energy, passion and excitement.

An absolute must for the ardent traditionalist.  Book early, it will sell out.


THE DAVE NEWTON TRIO
with 'THE THREE TENORS'
Art Themen, Don Weller
& Brandon Allen
 
Tickets £18 (£31 including pre-show supper) can be booked on 01460 54973
 
The very best of our UK pianists with three of our finest UK tenor sax players.  Following their massive success two years ago, UK legends Art and Don are with us again, this time with a different third member of their hugely popular "Three Tenors" combo, which has now been regularly performing for twenty years or more. 

All are past award winners, and they work together superbly with styles heavily influenced by such greats as Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon
 



Opening Hours 
Monday - Friday 9.30am - 4.30pm 
Saturday 9.30 -2.30pm - Closed Sundays. 
Box Office: 01460 54973 
Website: www.themeetinghouse.org.uk
 
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First Tuesday ... Keeping it local!

Sincerely,

Ilminster First Tuesday
 
Ilminster First Tuesday