for the Civil Parishes of Olveston and Aust

Welcome to the nine Severnside villages and hamlets of Olveston, Tockington, Awkley, Ingst, Old Down, Lower Hazel, Aust, Elberton and Littleton on Severn

• Check out what's on locally (not so much right now!)
• Find descriptions and contact details for local clubs and societies
• Read our monthly community magazine online
• Discover useful information about local services and organisations in our online Directory
• Find out about hiring local venues
• Browse our Photo Galleries 
• ... and lots more

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO ENTERTAIN CHILDREN DURING LOCKDOWN?

If you need inspiration for some fun things your children can do during lockdown, check out the website of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) in Exeter. 

Here you can find a whole series of mini-challenges for children, some of them inspired by Gerald the Giraffe, who features in the museum.  All the challenges can be made using everyday things which can be found in the home. 

Make a Roman soldier using a paintbrush! Make a jellyfish from a plastic bottle!  The museum adds a new challenge every Friday, so the ideas will keep coming...

STAYING SAFE  - NATIONAL LOCKDOWN - STAY AT HOME

Here is the latest Government information about the National Lockdown in England, starting on Tues 5 January, with detailed information about what is and is not allowed. 

New announcements are being made every day regarding the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic, and the situation is fairly complex. 

Check out the latest government Coronavirus advice here, including details of how to get a test and details of what kinds of support are available to people during lockdown.

Here, on an interactive map, you can see the latest statistics, for our area and others. 

SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE - the Coronavirus situation locally

You can see the South Gloucestershire Covid-19 statistics dashboard here. The number of cases in South Gloucestershire had been falling fast thanks to the second lockdown (down to 133 per 100,000 on 6 December) but by 31 December, the number of cases had risen to 338 per 100,000 and was still rising fast.  We need to stay at home to get the number of cases as low as we can, as fast as we can.   

Vaccines are being rolled out in great numbers but, in the meantime, our best chance of suppressing the virus is to break the human transmission chains by as many people as possible staying at home.  Maybe we all need badges? -  'I'm staying at home - I'm a VIRUS BREAKER!'

HELP SHAPE YOUR LOCAL PARISH - BECOME A PARISH COUNCILLOR

Read this to discover how, by contributing your time and effort, you can help improve your local community. There are openings for two new Councillors.

THE STORY BEHIND THIS PAINTING

Read the story behind this painting, courtesy of Alison Dix, in the August edition of Meeting Point.

A FANTASTIC LEGACY

Many local residents will have got to know, over the last few years, the wonderful local project called A Forgotten Landscape.  Largely funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, staffed by enthusiastic, imaginative and hard-working project workers but - above all - supported by a large band of locally recruited volunteers, this project has celebrated the heritage and the natural environment of the Lower Severn Vale levels.  Although the project was wound up in 2019, its legacy lives on!

Firstly, the project website will stay live for another five years.

Secondly, fifteen new walking routes have been created in the area. The walks have each been waymarked on the ground, and many include some of the project's benches and interpretation points along the way. Beautifully produced packs of these walks (see picture above) have been widely distributed, but you can access the walks online here.

In addition, there is also a pack called Tales of the Vale: Stories from A Forgotten Landscape. This is a mixture of historical research and fascinating oral history interviews on CD, both undertaken by groups of local volunteers over two years.   Again, you can access the Tales of the Vale online.

All this material has also been deposited at Gloucestershire Archives, to be held there permanently.

There are many other interesting aspects to the project website which remain relevant, including ideas for places to visit, details of local birdlife, beautiful soundscapes, and some learning resources for primary schoolchildren.  If you have some spare time, it's worth exploring - not least because it may give you ideas for things to do locally!

OLVESTON PARISH WALKS

Leaflets have been produced, detailing six circular walks in Olveston Parish.

You can download each walk leaflet from the list below.

The walks are:

1. Round Olveston

2. Olveston and Old Down

3. Old Down and Rudgeway

4. Old Down and Tockington

5. Between Olveston and Tockington

6. Down to the Motorway

If you want to stay active during the autumn and winter, get those warm and waterproof layers on, find a pair of boots and head on out!  Even a 15 minute walk will get the blood circulating and your cheeks rosy! 

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