We’re potty about the Hayridge…

…and to prove it, we’ve put on display a replica of the 2000-year old Roman funeral urn that was discovered five years ago in the garden of the old Cullompton Workhouse. The original urn is being safeguarded by the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter following its restoration. The exact replica we have put on display was commissioned by the Cullompton Town Team. The pot was used as a cremation vessel for a man aged about thirty, probably from Gaul or Northern Italy, who (so the archaeologists who investigated the urn tell us) had anaemia and a bad back. It’s an exquisite reminder of Cullompton’s ancient history, and well worth a look the next time you stop by.

Do you have time to get INVOLVEd?



If you are starting the New Year with a little time on your hands, have you thought about putting some of it to good use by volunteering for charity work? Whether you want to meet new friends, help your local community, or get some valuable experience to put on your CV, volunteering is a really rewarding way of spending time. This week, we have a display in our lobby organised by INVOLVE, our local charity volunteer co-ordinating agency. Why not stop by and pick up a leaflet to see what volunteering could do for you?

Incidentally, we should add that the library at the Hayridge could not function as it does without the sterling work performed every week by our own volunteers, Pat and Ann, so please join us in offering a big thank you for all they’ve done in 2014!

And talking about volunteers…

We are hoping to recruit a couple more volunteers to support our latest ventures - (drumroll) - a Lego club and a Coding club.

The Lego club will allow children to learn about design and engineering while having fun with some brilliant Lego sets – including the programmable sets which allow robots and remote-control cars to be built! The Coding club is to help children practice programming with the Scratch and Python computer languages now being taught at school, using our computer training suite upstairs at the Hayridge. Both clubs are likely to be held on Saturday mornings starting (we hope) around March or April, depending on how quickly we can get volunteers involved to help run it.

We’re looking for people with experience of working with children, who can share their enthusiasm for programming and engineering to help the next Bill Gates or James Dyson get started. If you think that sounds like fun, why not drop in and ask for an informal chat about it?

So many courses, so little time

January marks the start of a new term for adult learners, and there are loads to pick from on the Learn Devon website https://www.learndevon.co.uk/ . From IT to art, we’ve got it covered. Just select “Mid Devon” on the drop-down list of Devon regions and click the search button to see what’s on offer at the Hayridge this term. Or, if you need a little help, just pop in to the counter where we have the website on permanent display – we’re happy to help! STOP PRESS - January course choice leaflet now available at the Hayridge counter!

Suffering with Fibromyalgia?

Don't suffer alone. The Cullompton Fibromyalgia group meets every Wednesday at the Hayridge from 1-3:30 pm. Meet for company, gentle exercises, and stimulating speakers (this week our guest speaker is Frank Letch, the amazing mayor of Crediton, who has learned to live without arms). For more details, contact Mary on 01884 839508 (between 10 and 6, please). Together we can make a big difference to our lives.

Got an idea for a club, activity, or event?

We’re always looking for new ideas, so if you’ve got a brilliant idea for an activity or event, or maybe a club that meets at the Hayridge every so often, then do let us know, and we’ll do our best to make it happen. There’s already a lot of clubs and groups that meet here on a regular basis – you can check out a list of them by clicking here – but we’re always happy to add to the list if there’s a need in the community. So if you’ve always wanted to start a clog-dancing group, or want to share your passion for basket-weaving, why not let us know (just use the feedback box at the top of this post) and we'll see if others want to join you!

Coming up…

Don’t forget our gadget workshop on January 20^th, when we will show you how to connect your tablet computer, e-book reader or smartphone to our e-book and e-audiobook service. You can see all our other events in January by clicking here.

And we are still running our monthly author display; in January, our featured author is spy thriller writer Len Deighton - click here to see why we chose him!

 

 

“Gutenberg”