Young fighters from Bradley Stoke Judo club finished off a remarkable year of achievement with Louis Arsac, Pete Miles and Stephanie Walker winning two Gold medals and one Bronze medal at the British National Judo Championships for 12 – 18 year olds in Sheffield.

Their outstanding success brings the club’s haul of national medals won this year to 10.  The club’s best year ever!

Coaches Nick Brace (35) and Pete Douglas (47) who won Gold medals at the British National Masters championships this year said:

“We are exceptionally proud of all our competitors.  To compete at the very highest level in the country and come away with medals is a great personal triumph for the individuals and an inspiration to all the younger members of the club.  Everyone has worked extremely hard and had a lot of fun as well.

“The club just seems to be on a roll since Kelly Wilson and Bethany Andrews both won silver medals at the British schools championship earlier on in the year.  Then came our Masters competition success.

“We were delighted when Tasha Okoye, Eli Britton and Jack Reeves won three more medals at the National competition for under 12s.  To have that followed by even more medal winning success only a few weeks later at the over 12s National competition represents the top side of our expectations for the year.

“We are excited about the future as we have a number of promising fighters coming through the ranks and next year we have been invited to take part in an international tournament in Grisolle near Toulose in France – so watch this space.”

Front row left – right:

Jack Reeves (10) Silver medal, Pete Miles (14) Gold Medal, Eli Britton (11) Silver medal

Back row left to right:

Nick Brace (35) Gold medal, Beth Andrews (14), Silver medal, Louis Arsac (13) Gold Medal, Tasha Okoye (11) Bronze medal, Stephanie Walker (13) Bronze medal, Kelly Wilson (15) Silver medal, Pete Douglas (47) Gold medal.

Winter may be fast approaching but Thornbury concertgoers can musically enjoy all the seasons this November at Thornbury Choral Society’s Autumn concert. The choir will be performing Haydn’s The Seasons – a magnificent oratorio of the classical era which skilfully and lyrically depicts the changing moods of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
The Seasons was completed by Haydn in 1801 and follows on from his hugely successful oratorio The Creation. Not as well-known perhaps or as often performed as The Creation, The Seasons involves a large classical orchestra, chorus and three soloists (bass, tenor and soprano). It is, naturally enough, divided into four parts, representing the four seasons which are described through a series of recitatives, arias, choruses and ensemble numbers. The music is particularly noted for its tonal painting: a ploughman whistles as he works; a bird is shot from the sky by a hunter; there is a sunrise with the cock crowing; a loud summer thunderstorm is followed by a gentle nightfall, and so on with several rousing and exciting choruses and many beautiful arias.
The choir, led by conductor and musical director Steven Kings, will be joined by soloists Charlotte Newstead (soprano), Rupert Charlesworth (tenor) and Philip Tebb (bass) with Paul Walton on continuo.
The concert is in Thornbury on 29th September 2010 – are available from Jos Gregson (Secretary) on 01454 411652, any choir member or Thornbury Town Hall for £9 in advance or £10 on the door with £1 for students U16. Please see our website for further details www.thornburychoralsociety.org.uk.

59 excited Year 2 pupils from Meadowbrook Primary School enjoyed a sunny visit to Savages Wood today.

In a contrast to the previously planned visit, which was postponed in the Summer term due to poor weather, the pupils, teachers and a team of parent helpers could not believe their luck with the sunny and warm weather.

Passers by smiled at the sight of nearly 60 pupils marching along the pavement in their wellington boots, while car drivers were particularly patient at the road crossings! Once in the wood, small groups of children were tasked with identifying what they could see, smell, hear and touch. The youngsters took delight in comparing the roughness of the bark of a tree with the softness of moss and the smooth feel of ivy. They also found several of the orienteering posts, and marveled at the variety of smells and sounds of the woods.

Families from throughout Bradley Stoke and North Bristol were delighted by Saturday’s circus show, Happy’s Circus, hosted by Bowsland Green Primary School.

In a rare opportunity to visit an all-human professional circus right on their doorsteps, parents, grandparents and children flocked to the event and packed the imposing red and yellow striped bid top on the school field.

Stars of the show were father-and-son clowns Happy and Pip, who kept the audience laughing through a series of laugh out loud sketches. Aerialist Stephanie Randelle amazed her audience with a display graceful at the centre of the big top from a hexagonal ‘hoop’ and then spinning from a rope, without the use of a safety net. BMX Champion Csaba Bozso wowed onlookers with his free-standing ladder act, followed by an impressive BMX show – for which he called upon the assistance of Birthday girl, 11 year old Becky from the audience.

Albert Arslanov displayed his amazing balancing and juggling skills, using a knife in his mouth. A variety of objects were balanced, flipped and juggled using the edge of the knife! 18 year old Vladislav Khvostik performed a truly incredible hand-balancing act, with astounding feats of strength. Please keep an eye on our flickr album on the front page, where we will be adding some great photos from Saturday’s show as soon as we can.

Bradley Stoke Matters was delighted to support this event, which raised funds for the Friends of Bowsland Green. Well done to Chairperson Lynne Miller and her team of trusted committee members for making this community event such a great success. I’m sure it will be remembered by my 6 year old for many years to come!

Tickets are still available for a rare opportunity to take the family to see a professional circus in Bradley Stoke this weekend.

Organised by the Bowsland Green PTA, Happy’s Circus boasts all-human acts to keep the whole family entertained including crazy clowns; magical illusions; daring aerialists and amazing speciality acts from around the world.

Lynne Miller, Chairperson of the PTA said “We’ve had an influx of bookings since the latest edition of Bradley Stoke Matters went out, though we still have in the region of 100 tickets left.”

Tickets are 7 pounds each or 25 pounds for a family of four. Children aged 2 years and under are free if they do not require a seat. To secure your last-minute ticket, please text 07528 935 108 stating the number of tickets required and your name. You can then collect and pay for your tickets on the day at between 1pm and 1.15pm. If you do not have the facility to text you can call Lynne on the same number.

Bowsland Green school is in Ellicks Close, Bradley Stoke and the show starts at 2pm this Saturday. All profits will go to the school’s PTA. Bradley Stoke Matters is proud to be supporting this event, and we also thank The Willow Brook Centre for helping the school to promote the show.

Thornbury Musical Theatre Group are pleased to be bringing the much-loved story of Jekyll & Hyde to the stage, at Armstrong Hall in Thornbury for 4 nights from Wednesday 20th October to Saturday 23rd.

The musical, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, provides the audience with many twists and turns with much drama, passion and pathos along the way, culminating in a dramatic climax. It’s definitely a show not to be missed! The music is awe-inspiring with wonderful songs like ‘This is the Moment’. If you liked Les Miserables you will love Jekyll and Hyde!

Shows will be at 7.30pm, with a 2.30pm matinee on the Saturday. Tickets are 9 pounds, 8 pounds for concessions and on Wednesday’s opening night you can book 3 full price tickets for the price of 2. On the other performances if you buy 10 tickets you will get one free!

The box office is now open at Thornbury’s Wildings or you can ring 01454 415850 to book. Tickets can also be reserved, but not paid for by e-mailing boxoffice@tmtg.org.uk. For more information please see TMTG’s website HERE.

Bradley Stoke Matters is pleased to be promoting a new BT scheme which gives local residents a chance of improved broadband connection speeds. Residents up and down the country can vote for their neighbourhood to be fast-tracked for the installation of superfast broadband.

The Race to Infinity competition invites residents to vote online for their area to become one of the first to benefit from fibre optic broadband. The five areas with the largest percentage of votes by 31st December 2010 will win the opportunity to bring superfast fibre optic broadband to their area. What’s more, BT will also donate £5,000 of computer equipment to a local community project.

To vote, please go to BT’s Race to Infinity website HERE. You simply need to enter your landline, your postcode and whether you are a residential or business customer. Don’t forget to tell your friends to log on to support us!

With one vote per address permitted, the Almondsbury Interchange (01454 numbers) has a possible 9,480 votes and the Filton exchange (0117 numbers) has a possible 18,731 votes.

We are asking the Town Council, local community groups and local businesses to support this bid, and we look forward to bringing you the latest news!

James Spencer, of James Spencer Photography based in Bradley Stoke, has provided a free full family photo shoot to Melanie Clarke and her family to try and replace the family images which were lost when the family’s laptop was stolen in a burglary back in August at their home in Speedwell.

James read an article in the Evening Post back in August and thought that he could try and help the family replace some of their precious family pictures they had lost by offering the family a free photo shoot at his studio in Bradley Stoke. James, a professional photographer, commented “I called the Evening Post reporter and offered my services for free to Melanie and her family. I felt so sorry for them with them losing all their family pictures that I thought that I could offer them a free shoot which would hopefully go some way to helping them with their loss, and provide some new images for them to keep. I know I would be devastated if I lost all my family pictures.”

Melanie and her family were delighted to accept and the photo shoot occurred in late September at the James Spencer Photography studio in Bradley Stoke. James commented “Melanie and her family had a great time at the shoot and we captured some excellent images for them all”. The new images have now been delivered to Melanie and her family.

If you are interested in a photo shoot you can contact James via his website here.

Saturday’s Community Showcase event, held at the Willow Brook Centre, was a great success – giving local residents the chance to find out about dozens of local groups, churches and organisations.

The showcase was organised by SBCP and would not have been possible without the sponsorship of Bradley Stoke Matters, The Aztec Hotel and the Willow Brook Centre.

Building on the success of last year’s event, stalls were over subscribed this year, with a waiting list for spaces. A huge white marquee in the Town Square housed representatives from diverse local groups including, amongst others, Bradley Stoke Scouts, Avon & Somerset Police, Three Brooks Conservation Group, Friends of Forty Acres, Winterguard, BOBS, Christ the King Church, Bradley Stoke Evangelical Church, the Aztec Rotary Club, Bradley Stoke Radio and Bradley Stoke Matters.

Bradley Stoke’s Mayor, Ben Walker, officially opened the event. He praised Southern Brooks for their organisation of the showcase and thanked the event’s sponsors for their support.

Visitors to the Bradley Stoke Matters stall enjoyed taking part in our coloring competition – the oldest entrant was 63 – and dozens of residents gave Jaci and Alison their feedback about the community magazine and bradleystokematters.co.uk website. Thanks to everyone for your fantastic feedback!

To view more photos from the day please visit our Flickr photo site, accessible from our home page.