August Newsletter 2026 part one

1. Welcome to August’s newsletter, I’m sure the months are getting shorter. It seems only a couple of days since I started putting my digits to the keyboard for July’s newsletter. Before we report on the events of July let’s have some trivia you can impress your guests at those many candlelight suppers you have! August is named to honor the first Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, the grandnephew of Julius Caesar. It comes from the Latin word augustus, meaning “venerable, noble and majestic” Notable dates in August 1st – 7th International Clown Week, August 3rd National Watermelon Day and August 25th Kiss-and-Make-Up day. If the first week of August is unusually warm, then the winter will be white and long. So, a lot to look forward to this month if you’re that way inclined.

2. July again was a busy month for WMS with the ongoing refurbishment of ‘our Shed’ leading up to the window fitting date of Friday 17th July. Work parties turned out again to move all the benches and equipment away from the walls for the fitting. This was also an opportunity to use the time and manpower to prepare the exterior for the cladding phase. A team of members worked exceptionally hard in preparing the area which included some very heavy lifting. The decking was taken up and sawn into manageable pieces for their resting place in a wood recycling skip at the tip. Paul has saved the pieces he wants for his bird-tables, so very little waste.

JD Window Solutions arrived earlier than expected however they were met at the gates and were soon removing the old windows and installing the new frames. You can see how much light we have now in the workshops. New external security window bars will be fitted next. The fitters left after the fitting but the internal sills etc. remained unfinished. This was completed a few days later, on the 20th . So we now have a smart set of windows for the building. Thanks to all the members who stepped up to the plate again to ensure we met our refurbishment timeline. We have to take stock of what we have achieved in the past months. This time next year we will be enjoying the ‘fruits of our labour’

Not everyone is in the team photo at the end of the day but thank you to all who turned up. It really made a difference.

This will be a first. I hope to have an extra supplement later highlighting the tremendous progress we have achieved recently at WMS including laying the new concrete path and adjusting the gate posts for the exterior cladding

3. You may have noticed we’ve had a rather busy month dealing with tool and wood donations. My car back seat seems to have been permanently down recently to enable more space for the vast array tools and equipment that we have received recently. Many of those tools donated have been gratefully received for a donation to the WMS by members. With every collection there are tools that members don’t require These go to T.W.A.M. but some can help with our fund raising. Sunday 5th July saw John, Colin and Tony arrive at Five Heads car boot sale to display the tools that could possibly help raise funds. At the end of the morning the intrepid trio raised a total of £163:95 after costs for WMS funds. Tony left with a boot of “old iron” for the scrap dealer which will add to the final total. There were several visitors wanting to know more about WMS. We have already received membership papers for one person to join after the car boot sale. Welcome to our, and now your shed. John offered his usual ten-minute guarantee, but the other stall holders were surprised to see John’s car quickly leaving the site in a cloud of dust, being chased by people who had bought goods from John ‘Del Boy’ Bowden that had stopped working after ten minutes! A great effort by everyone involved though.

This is really a figment of my imagination. Everything is checked before being sold on but why let the truth get in the way of a good story!