Orchard gift

Montgomery Energy Group (MEG) has been gifted some raised beds and a pear tree for the community orchard.

The raised beds were generously donated to the orchard by Gwyneth Depport who is moving away from Montgomery to be closer to her grandchildren, and wanted the raised beds, which her late husband Alan had made for her, to become part of the community orchard.

She has also given the orchard a Snowdon Queen pear tree, now christened Gwyneth, and some rhubarb.

All of these are a perfect addition to the orchard, which lies on a piece of land in the junction between the Newtown and Welshpool roads at the bottom of town.

The orchard was established following a license agreement with Powys County Council in 2017, spearheaded by Clinton Small and MEG with support from the Community Land Advisory Service (CLAS), and saw its first fruit trees - five rare Welsh fruit trees from Bunners - planted in April 2018.

Reflective trail

The group of churches stretching from Llandysilio to Llandyssil have had the theme ‘Journeying together’ for their services and activities during Lent.

As a response, Montgomery church has put together a reflective trail around the town.

The reflective trail follows the Montgomery Trails Heritage Trail and participants are encouraged to stop at different places along the trail, reflect on some questions and make their walk a spiritual as well as a physical journey.

There are also questions and activities for children and a prayer to be used at each place if wished.

The walk is just over two miles long and is on roads, pavements and hard paths.

Helen Hayes said: “Many of us have got very familiar and perhaps a little bored with the walks that we have been allowed to do from home during lockdown.

“This trail aims to help people look at things in a different way and perhaps grow a little by doing so.”

The reflective walk leaflets, together with the Montgomery Trails leaflets, are available free in the Ivy House Post Office and the Tourist Information Box in Montgomery. (The Montgomery Trails are also available for download from http://www.montgomery-trails.co.uk/)

Easter activities

There are still a couple more days to take part in Easter activities for children organised by Friends of Montgomery School and Mini Montys Playgroup.

The Friends have arranged a fundraising Easter egg hunt in the form of a trail around the town which can be completed by families in Montgomery until April 10. Easter Egg Trail maps can be collected from Bunners for the entry price of £2 per child.

Meanwhile Mini Montys have three competitions for different ages, also with a closing date of April 10, and a 50p entry fee.

Ages two and under can take part in a colouring contest, with a colouring page available from Bunners or printable from the Mini Montys facebook page at fb.me/MiniMiniMontys.

Ages three to six are invited to show their best Easter craft and children older than six are asked to write an Easter poem and send it in.

Full details can be found on the Mini Montys facebook page, where winners will then be announced on April 11.

Passover talk

Monty Hour listeners recently enjoyed a talk about the celebration of Passover, or Pesach.

Mark and Sue Michaels explained the origins of the family of Abraham, and compared different faiths’ stories and celebrations, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all of which have many things in common.

Like Easter, the festival of Pesach falls on different dates each year, this year being 5781 in the Jewish calendar.

It lasts for eight days, and celebrates the freedom from slavery of the Hebrews.

Sue and Mark explained how the joyous festival is celebrated, and the family traditions that have evolved, with each family celebrating in its own way within the guidelines including no leavened food or drink.

The talk finished with Sue sharing some recipes for sweet treats to be enjoyed at a Seder meal.

Pre-school bags

Montgomery Pre-School would be grateful for bags of unwanted clothes, textiles, shoes and accessories.

They have organised this collection to raise funds towards a new iPad for the Pre-School children.

Bags of donations will be collected by Bag2School on a date to be announced, but bags can be dropped off at the activity centre. Empty Bag2School bags can be collected but any large carrier is fine too.

The list of what can be included can be found at https://bag2school.com/what-we-collect. Please be aware of Covid restrictions and advice when dropping off your donations.