Published on 22nd June 2006 as part of Di Alexander's excellent series |
"A Village with a little bit of everything"
Not too many villages can boast either an airfield or an operational railway station but Kemble has both. It also has a thriving school, a well used village shop and Post Office, a pub and a village hall that is over 100 years old. On June 18th, around 20,000 people visited Kemble Air Show on the airfield which celebrated its 70th anniversary this year. The show is organised by Glen Moreman who is also involved in other airfield events, such as the annual Steam Rally in August. "The Air Show is a local show for local people. We concentrate mainly on vintage jets because that's what Kemble is well known for. People like coming here because it's much more relaxed that the bigger shows. The Red Arrows come back every year - we couldn't have an Air Show without them. They were so much part of the scene for 20 years and they still are," said Glen who has no qualms about coping with the vastly increased Air Show traffic, since the main road right past the airfield makes getting in and out easy. Kemble Airfield which was the headquarters of service ferry squadrons during World War II is now home to around 50 businesses employing approximately 650 people. They range from Cotswold Archaeology to the Gooseberry Bush Nursery and include the AV8 Restaurant and the Wings Cafe as well as five flying clubs. There have been five generations of the Wixey family living in Kemble
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At Kemble station, from Monday to Saturday, Ken Wellings supervises around 35 trains a day going to and from London, with the 6.49 and Between 6.15 and 10.30am on weekdays, Deirdre Clarke runs the Off the Rails Cafe, serving a full range of coffees, home baked croissants, bacon butties and other delights to hungry commuters. "Its popularity has far exceeded our expectations and the commuters are a very pleasant bunch. It's worth getting up early to feed them. We also sell newspapers including The Standard which is sold almost as soon as it comes in," said Deirdre who has now opened The Goods Shed Cafe on Stroud station, with her partner, Nick. Kamlesh Chudasama has run Kemble Post Office and Stores for 17 years. Of the 94 children at Kemble School, around 80 percent are local. The school has close links with the church where children attend special services and learn about religion and the school is on very good terms with the churchwardens.
The governors regard the school as being at the heart of the community and many children belong to village groups, like the Brownies who use the school field and the Youth Drama Group at the Village Hall. Kemble at Play, the organisation responsible for the recreation area at Clayfurlong, is keen for school children to be involved and some have sat on its committee. The parish council works closely with the school and the children's views were included in the village appraisal. "We share the children with village organisations and we get very good support for our activities like bonfire night and our fetes and fair. The school is right at the centre of the community," said headteacher Barry Parsons. Kemble is obviously a hive of activity - and not only on Air Show weekend. Di Alexander If you click on the photos, they will open a larger version for you to view. |
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