SERVICES have not been held in St Mary's Church, Hartpury, since the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Gloucestershire due to the close proximity of the church to Hartpury Court Farm.

Now as the epidemic shows no sign of abating it has been decided that Hartpury services will be transferred to Corse Church with immediate effect following the normal pattern of services at Hartpury church which means the service next Sunday, April, will be parish communion at 10.30am.

Hartpury Drama Group are now well into rehearsals for their spring production Don't Dress for Dinner by Marc Camoletti (adapted by Robin Hawdon), which they present at Hartpury Village Hall at 7.45pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 17-19. Tickets £4 (concessions £3) available from Graham Jell (01452) 700716.

Hartpury church annual meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 25, at 7.30pm. The venue to be announced later.

Hartpury Village Hall is holding its annual general meeting on Monday, April 30, in the hall.

On the same evening, at 8pm, the annual parish meeting will be held, also in the village hall.

With regret I report the death of a former member of the farming community in Hart-pury, Mrs Enid Par-slow, who died in Gloucester Royal Hospital, aged 79. She had been living at a nursing home at Longhope.

Mrs Parslow and her late husband moved from Oxfordshire, where they had farmed, to Chapel Farm, Hartpury, and there brought up their large family of ten children.

Following her husband's death she continued to farm, was particularly interested in her Gloucester cattle and was a member of the Gloucester Cattle Society. She would have been very saddened by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Many people, including representatives of Gloucester Cattle Society joined her family at St Mary's Church for the funeral, conducted by Canon John Evans, to give thanks for her life.