What does it take to change a lightbulb? In Rosedale Abbey it was five men and three wagons to change the old sodium street light for a modern LED version, meaning better lit roads in the village this winter.

The annual Christmas Fair in aid of the Rosedale Community School was held in the school hall on Thursday 23 November. In a very festive atmosphere, just over £570 was raised to support school activities, an excellent effort all round:

Thanks to all the stall holders and to those who donated prizes for the raffle and who ran activities to entertain the children. And off course, to Santa for turning up and dishing out presents!

And a reminder that Father Christmas will be revisiting the dale on 4 December at 4.40pm, parking up by the school gates, so come along and give him a warm Rosedale welcome.

Father Christmas is taking time  out from his very busy schedule in December to call in on Rosedale Abbey and spread his Christmas cheer on Monday 4 December at 4.40 pm. He will park his sleigh just outside the school gates and will be escorted by his elves from the Ryedale Lions:

All are most welcome to come along and greet Santa with a heart yo ho ho or two!

The coffee morning in aid of the Women’s Institute held at the Coach house Inn on Saturday 4 November raise just short of £330 and the Church Appeal stall in the craft fair raised £200 – excellent results and a tribute to the generosity of those who attended.

As always, many thanks to all who contributed their time to organising the two events, to all who contributed prizes for the raffle, to those who also gave donations to the WI and the ‘Save Rosedale Abbey Church’ appeal and to Dave Oakey and the team at the Coach House for the excellent coffee and biscuits.

A craft fair and the Women’s Institute Coffee Morning will be held at the Coach House Inn, Rosedale Abbey, on Saturday 4 November starting at 10.00am. On display and for sale will be hand-made, high quality local crafts including jewellery, Christmas cards, calendars, gifts and decorations, cushions, turned wood and much more.

So come along, enjoy a cup of coffee, the raffle and cake sale and support our local WI, then browse at the craft fair for those special Christmas gifts.

We wish a warm Rosedale welcome to Helen and Graig, the new proprietors of Abbey Stores. Currently they are busy re-stocking the shop but are open for business apart from the tea room which they hope to have up and running by Monday 23 October.

Call in any time to say hello and watch this space for further details of opening times and the like once they have settled in.

Update: from 23 October, Abbey Stores will be open from 08.30 to 5.00pm every day of the week for breakfast, light lunches and teas.

Sunshine, showers and a blustery wind typified show day at Rosedale on Saturday 19 August, but as usual the crowds of locals and visitors came out and enjoyed the varied displays of horses and other livestock, exhibitions, trade stands and live music throughout the day.

Much thanks to all on the Show Committee and to the volunteers who manned the gates and controlled the traffic to make the day such a success.

Thanks must also go to all those who donated to the Rosedale Abbey church repair appeal by buying the excellent calendars on offer or by giving directly or both. The grand sum of  £546.30 was raised for this vital cause.

The remaining calendars will be on sale shortly in the village between now and the church appeal sponsored coffee morning in the Coach House Inn on Saturday 2 September from 10.00 to 12.00 am – in the meantime, if you have any queries, please call 01751 417071 and leave a message.

Thanks again to all who helped make this Saturday such a special day for Rosedale.

As part of the appeal to raise funds to save St Mary and St Lawrence Church in Rosedale Abbey, a 2018 calendar has been produced which will be on sale at Rosedale Show on 19 August in the Rosedale History Society tent on Row F and also in the Church Tea Tent by the entrance to the main ring, for £10 a copy with envelope.

The calendar is a lovely reminder of Rosedale and will make an ideal Christmas present, so please make an effort to buy at least one to help us raise the funds for the urgent  repairs needed to the church.

The calendar will also be on sale at the church repair appeal coffee morning at the Coach House Inn on Saturday 2 September  between 10.00 and 12.00 am – please make a note of the time and date for your diaries.

In a tearful but happy occasion, the children, parents and friends of Rosedale Community Primary School said farewell to their much loved head teacher, Nicola Johnson. Nicola first came to Rosedale School in January 1991, taking over as head teacher from Diane Hughes. Then the school had 29 pupils. Now it has 22 in total with the number rising again and the fact that the school has survived at all is very largely down to the efforts of Nicola, as the chairman of the governors, Anthony Davies observed in his address.

The British Wool wagon turned up today in Rosedale Abbey for our farmers to load their wool sacks from this year’s shearings. Just over sixty bales were loaded, each bale weighing between 50 to 60 kgs.