Tower and Town, June 2026 (view the full edition)Minal Clubs And TraditionsThe Minal Garden Club The Gardening Club brings together villagers with a shared interest in gardening and the natural environment. The club meets informally around once a month, providing a welcoming and supportive community. During the spring and summer, members host informal visits to their gardens, sharing ideas, exchanging practical knowledge, and enjoying a variety of garden styles. The club regularly organises talks at the Village Hall. Recent topics have included permaculture, wildflowers, vegetable growing, and rain-garden design. The club runs a plant stall at the village fete, and an annual highlight is the Village Show, where residents are invited to exhibit their produce, flowers, baking, preserves, and crafts. The event remains a popular fixture in the village calendar. New members are always welcome, regardless of experience. The Sports Field Minal is indeed fortunate to have its own field, managed by the Sports and Social Club. We provide an increasingly scarce amenity for organised sport such as cricket and youth football, the latter being predominantly girls. The village has full access to the field for informal activities and dog walking. The field provides a venue for popular annual village events including the fete, outdoor theatre and bonfire/fireworks night. These provide an opportunity for people to meet and socialise. The organisation of the events themselves brings the village together in a very therapeutic manner. Talking of outdoor theatre, the Mikron Theatre Company will return to Minal sports field on Friday 7th August 7 pm, for another hilarious and skilful show - this year titled "Wensleydale Whey" - The Grate Cheese Quest! See https://mikron.org.uk. Beating the Bounds In 1910 the ceremony of 'Beating the Bounds' (walking the boundary of the Parish) was carried out on Easter Monday. This was said to ensure that the younger members of the parish could remember the line of the boundary and, in turn, pass on this knowledge. But really it was an opportunity to bond the village through activity. This tradition has been revived this century and every spring determined villagers walk part or all the 14-mile perimeter of the parish. On 2nd May this year over 20 villagers completed the walk, finishing up in the pub just as the rain started. We seem to have come "full circle". Valerie Hammerton; Clive Scholefield |