ThReds
The ThReds organisation was set up in the early part of 2015 to develop a sense of community spirit through a series of activities and interest groups. The driving force and founder was village stalwart and resident for many decades, Ron Bradford, MBE who chaired the first and subsequent committee meetings until 2019 when he retired to enjoy a more relaxing 10th decade. Initially, the organisation had no name but, from several suggestions, ThReds was chosen (derived from Thorpe Residents) which means that every village resident is a member. Since that first meeting a Book Group, Craft Group and Walking Group have become well established and operate independently with their own group leader. The ThReds committee continues to organise whole village events, including a barbecue in the summer and a village party at Christmas. There is some involvement with Love Your Parish activities too.
Other activities have been tried but, for a variety of reasons, weren’t able to continue. These included coach trips, which never attracted enough interest to make them financially viable and a Film Group, which needed a very costly license to operate.
The ThReds committee always remains open to suggestions for other events and to any resident who would like to serve on the committee.
Details of activities appear in View from the Hill. For more information contact tonymagri949@btinternet.com
Love Your Parish
Love your Parish was started in 2016 with the aim of having a week of community activities ranging from simple things, like tidying an area at the front of your house, to a whole village party. It was the idea of the Parish Clerk and the purpose was to celebrate all that goes on in Thorpe on the Hill and to further develop our sense of community. It has now expanded to a period of almost two weeks in May/June, with a new autumn event added in 2020.
The summer event usually includes a meeting of the Book Group, Craft Group and a Community Cafe, a Bowls match, a party or barbecue, a garden party, an event at the church, Beating the Bounds walks (including one which involves the whole school), visits to the Railway Inn and large group action events like tidying the Oliver Roper Centre, both inside and out, litter picking and tidying the community orchard attached to the allotments on Moor Lane. Volunteers have run many other activities which haven’t necessarily taken place every year but have been welcome additions to the programme
For the autumn event the focus is on a celebration of apples and on hedge and tree planting in the parish.
Details of planned activities appear in the parish magazine and everyone is welcome to take part. For further details on the events or if you would like to offer to take part please contact tonymagri949@btinternet.com or the activity organiser.
Book Group
The Book Group, which started in 2015, meets approximately every six weeks, usually at the home of a member of the group. The person who hosts the evening chooses the book (fiction or non-fiction) and this is normally organised at the meeting before. It has become traditional for the hosts to provide a light supper, often based on themes from the book being discussed. The range of books chosen and the views expressed by members vary widely, and these two things maintain the interest of the group.
Details of meetings appear in View from the Hill. For more information contact tonymagri949@btinternet.com
Walking Group
The Walking Group, which started in 2015, meets approximately every six weeks for a morning walk of about 4 miles, followed by lunch at the Railway Inn. The walks are all in the local area to keep car use to a minimum. The highlight and most popular walk is the annual Night Hike which usually takes place on the Thursday closest to the winter solstice. This is always followed by a Christmas meal at the Railway Inn when we typically squeeze 25 to 30 hungry walkers into the dining room.
Details of walks appear in View from the Hill. For more information contact tonymagri949@btinternet.com