Bourne End & Wooburn Green

12:33pm Wednesday 22nd August 2001

GREAT weekend to stay local. Saturday is the day to take children down to Cliftons Toy Shop and let them share in the 40th Birthday celebrations. They'll get free sweets and parents will get the chance to look at the special offers. Discounts will apply to selected CD's so take a good look at what's on offer. Terry and his staff will be there to help you join in the fun. Buy a raffle ticket and help to raise money for the Pepper Foundation which supplies paediatric nurses to terminally ill children at home. Children can have their face painted and be anything from Harry

Potter to an extra from Planet of the Apes. So don't miss the party!

SHOW time on Bank Holiday Monday at the Community Centre and St Dunstan's Church from 2pm. Wonderful displays of flowers, fruit and vegetables that are worth seeing. Weighing of the children's 'Potato' challenge takes place at 2.30pm when all the plastic buckets will be emptied to find out who has grown the most potatoes. There are lots of other classes for children including making a scarecrow on a broom handle. Vegetables must be used for the face. Throughout the afternoon there will be teas with home-made cakes available in the small hall. Prizegiving takes place at 4pm with Penny Walsh, President of Bourne End Community Association, handing out the awards. Then the Grand Raffle will be drawn followed by the auction of flowers and produce. A lovely afternoon without having to travel far afield. Please support the Horticultural Society as members work hard over the weekend to prepare the show.

BANK Holiday Monday is the day that lots of people enjoy a 'family day out' at Little Marlow. The Village Fete has become a traditional venue and every year there's the familiar and something entirely new. Not to be missed is the display of artifacts found around the Recreation Ground and you'll be able to watch an expert metal detector at work. Plans for the new pavilion will be on display and an opportunity for local people to see how £60/70,000 will be spend on improvements to bring the facilities right up to date.

Details of the Gravel Pits Proposals will also be there and members of the parish council will be on hand to answer questions. Lots of stalls, barbecue, ice creams, children's rides, steel band, vintage cars and the wonderful models of Royal Carriages created by Peter Smith. Funds raised go the Village Amenities Committee and are used "for the village," explained chairman Clive Innocent. And anyone wanting a quiet moment can wander down to the church which will be open from 2.30pm. The fete starts at 2pm and promises a great afternoon.

TIME to start getting sponsors if you plan to walk the Great Rotation on Sunday, September 16. Sponsorship forms are available in local shops and from the Community Centre. Remember - 60 per cent of donated money goes to your own charity and 40 per cent to Rotary charities. This year's new route involves just one river crossing at Longridge and also includes Flackwell Heath, Wooburn Green and Hedsor.

CECIL Rowan was well- known locally and his death last week, after a short illness, will sadden his many friends. Cecil was 83 and had come to the area just before the Second World War. His war service involved driving artillery trucks in North Africa and Sicily. Returning home he worked with a local builder and moved into a house in Chalklands. Later he moved out to Fern Lane in Little Marlow and set up his own plumbing and central heating business. He continued to do plumbing until his death. In any emergency Cecil would arrive and sort out the problem without any fuss and he enjoyed helping the Community Association which he had supported for many years. Cecil had a great passion for steam engines and for years owned a steam

roller called Furious. He also had a pet monkey called Mimi and they would trundle off to the local steam rallies at Knowl Hill and West Wycombe with Mimi running around the engine or hiding inside Cecil's shirt. Cecil leaves a son who lives in High Wycombe. The funeral took place last Tuesday.

Theatre, Art & Cinema