Merley Community Association Report

Greetings to you all and I hope you are all looking forward to a pleasant and warm Spring and Summer.
The decorations have been completed on the Lounge and Bar areas of the premises. Once new curtains have been fitted and some pictures of old Wimborne and surrounding areas have been hung on the walls and an outdoor area made available for the coming warm evenings, then the Social Club will be the place to visit for a relaxing evening.
Other rooms within the Community Building are being well used by various local clubs and organisations, so don’t forget this Building is for use by you, the residents of Merley. Please note however that due to Licensing Laws, non-Social Club Members using other rooms within the building, can only drink in the Social Club after they have been signed in by a Club Member. The best option is to become a Social Club member. The annual fee is very reasonable.
Can I bring to your attention the notice elsewhere in this magazine, to parents who drop their children off by car at Merley First School. We allow parents to use our car park as a convenience to them. However we ask, please DO NOT park on the private roadway from Harrier Drive to the main club car park, even for a minute or 2. Inconsiderate parking along this narrow road causes problems and can be dangerous to other users. If people continue to park on this stretch of road, we will seriously have to consider withdrawing this facility. So please be aware of other people’s needs and park only within the designated parking spaces. Thank you.
Finally, don’t forget the AGM, which is being held on Tuesday 25th May at 8.00 pm. All users of the Association premises are invited to attend.
Thank you

Martin Stevens

Chairman. Merley Community Association.

Wimborne Swimming Club

Did you know Wimborne has its own swimming club?
It was formed in the 1970s, boasted over 200 members and was highly competitive. However, like all things, the club has changed over the years; although its objectives have remained the same. To teach children to swim and be safe in the water. Something absolutely essential, as I am sure every parent will agree, with the sea and rivers being so near.
We meet every Friday evening at the Queen Elizabeth Centre, from 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm. We take in children from the age of 6 years upwards. They are taught by highly qualified A.S.A. Swimming teachers, who have been teaching for over 40 years.
Once a year we hold an ‘in-house’ Gala, which every child enters. Apart from that we are no longer competitive.

We are looking for new members. If you are interested in your child or children being taught to swim in a friendly club atmosphere, please come an join us - Alternatively ‘phone 886463 (Mrs S. Burke) or 888526 (Mrs A. Wallace) for further information.

Merley Evening Townswomen’s Guild

During the winter months Merley Townswomen’s Guild has enjoyed a variety of activities. Members and their friends joined together for theatre outings to “The Shell Seekers” and the “Christmas Unwrapped” Carol Service at The Lighthouse in Poole. Regular coffee get-togethers in Wimborne restaurants have been well attended and Merley T.G. has reached the finals of the federation skittles tournament.
Club meetings have welcomed speakers on “my life in retailing”, “wartime experiences” and “needlecraft”. There was a fun “Father Christmas Beetle Drive” at the December meeting.
The Spring Programme is planned to include theatre trips, coach outings, gentle strolls and a variety of interesting speakers and activities at our monthly meetings.
Club meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month.

We are a light hearted club for all age groups, meeting a at Merley First School (entrance at the rear of the school, adjacent to the car park) at 7.30 pm. Visitors and new members are most welcome. For enquiries on club activities please contact Ruby Lawrence on 01202 888438.

Canford & Merley W.I.

Canford and Merley W.I. Have an exiting programme for the year ahead, and would be very pleased to welcome visitors and new members to their meetings at Merley Community Centre on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7.30 pm.
March 10th will find us enjoying a Music Hall Mayhem with Mr David Andrews, to celebrate our 33rd birthday. April 14th is our Annual Meeting, when the new committee will be formed. On May 12th we will be discussing the resolutions to be presented at the National Federation of W.I.s Annual General Meeting in June, and giving voting Instructions to our delegate. On June 9th Ms Theresa Allwood will talk about the work of the Prince’s Trust.
As I write, in the 1st week of February, the first daffodils are in flower at the new planting at the junction of Merley Lane and Queen Anne Drive, which we undertook in October, with the help of Poole Parks Department. We hope you all enjoy this show, and the slightly later flowering on the bank outside Merley First School - planted to celebrate the Millennium, and which seem to be better each succeeding year.

Mrs B. Dixon

Has the Merley Magpie had it’s day?

We have lived in Merley for ten years now and have always enjoyed receiving and reading the Merley Magpie. May I encourage you to keep going and not to grow weary in well-doing if at all possible.
In the days when Plessey, Barclays Bank and others moved to Poole the old airfield at Merley was converted into Dormitory Housing very quickly to accommodate newcomers. It is a lovely place to live if your social needs are met elsewhere but it is a very difficult area in which to create and foster community. (You wouldn’t think that there are more people living in Merley than Swanage judging by the facilities on offer).
We at the Lantern have tried very hard to serve the community with a variety of religious and non-religious activities with only moderate success. A classic case is that we serve coffee and tea, cake and biscuits every Monday and Friday morning in our beautifully decorated and comfortable lounge. FREE OF CHARGE, and very few come. Our shopping area does not have a coffee shop so we hoped, being close to it, that people might like to pop in when they do their shopping. We are still hoping. As yet the Merley inhabitants seem too scared to cross our threshold but we don’t give up. Coffee and cake is still going free on Mondays and Fridays and one day we hope everyone will come.
Similarly we hope that others like the Community Centre and those who produce the Merley Magpie will not give up trying to encourage community but continue in the hope that one day the people in Merley will come to realise that the people in Merley are very helpful, friendly people — worth getting to know and worth reading about.

Peter H Lawrence