Hilton based horse-lover Belinda de la Mare has turned her equine passion into a business; we welcome to Hilton The Marvelous Horse Co. Filling a gap in the market for horse lovers looking for an assortment of essential as well as indulgent equestrian products including but not limited to riding gear, tack, clothing, gifts and horse themed decor items for your home.

Being a talented artist, Belinda has had fun drawing, designing and manufacturing an exclusive fabric range which has been made into cushions, lamp shades and even kitchen accessories. Her sketches are also available in block prints.

Backed by her husband Kevin's skills they have produced lovely horse shoe hooks and even a stylish towel rack for the bathroom. Even if you do not ride but love the Midlands lifestyle these useful hooks and rails will look great in your home!

The best part is that you will never again be at a loss for finding gifts for your horsey friends!

Visit The Marvelous Horse Co any weekday between 8.00am and 12.30pm, or in the afternoon by appointment.

You will also find The Marvelous Horse Co. at Hilton's POSH Market on Tuesday the 16th December 2014, from 9.00am until 3.00pm at Protea Hotel, Hilton.

Laddsworth Primary School hosted their annual Parent Appreciation Tea on the 12th November 2014, this event is held to thank our friends, parents and grandparents who go the extra mile.

If they stood side by side in a long line they would take up near on one kilometre in length, that says a lot about the support and commitment our Laddsworth parents show. We believe their care and generosity is a huge part of what makes Laddsworth the great school we believe it is.

Pictured L-R: Anushia Nzimande, Denisé Plaatjies, Trish Bullock and Dionne Bromley.

News supplied.

The Club extends its deepest sympathy to Pat Bennet on the death of her husband, Robin after a short illness.

The IF Trips competition had to be cancelled on Friday due to rain.

Both of our league teams played in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday. The second team came up against strong competition from Collegians. They held their own until the last ends on each rink when the opponents got the required shots and took the match. The third league team was on the back foot all afternoon against Alexander Park. Although we actually held the lead briefly on one rink, we came away with no points.

George Oldham, Fred Palmer and Chris Purchase played in the NIBA Men's Open Trips on Sunday. They had two good opening games, narrowly losing to last year's winners and a strong side from Collegians. Their last round robin match was against Howick and was of academic interest as both sides had already been eliminated. On Friday we will be hosting a new 2–4–2 pairs competition. Sponsors are Artisans Pizza Pasta.

The Jaxx Roll scheduled for Wednesday 19th will go ahead as planned and on Saturday 22nd we will hold the Surelink Trophy event. An entry form is on the notice board.

Bill's Christmas Bash takes place on 29 November, and promises to be the best one yet. Get your entry in early.

Duties: 16 – 22 Nov: OOD: Thelma Mylne. Tabs: Fred Palmer. Duty Team: Anton Leisegang. Teas on Sat. 22 Nov: Janice Shipway and George Oldham.

News supplied by Hilton Bowling Club.

Sharing herb lore and a meal, these herb club ladies enjoyed a get together with Diane Aldworth. For more information about Herb Club meetings in Hilton and her Herb Course call Di on 082 808 1519.

Find Di and The Green Herb Co products at Hilton's POSH Market, Protea Hotel, Hilton on the 16th December 2014.

Chocolate Sensations Hilton will be at the Notties Moonlight Market on 15 November at the SHERWOOD CENTRE near the Spar entrance. We would love our chocolate fans to come and see our wide range of affordable, handpainted belgian chocolates!

Laddsworth Primary School in Hilton recently hosted the seventh Phendulani Literary Quiz for under-resourced primary schools in Pietermaritzburg.

This year five local schools participated in the popular children's literature quiz, four from Pietermaritzburg and one from Howick. This event is designed to encourage pupils in under-resourced schools to develop literary knowledge and appreciation. Two teams from each school began preparing for the quiz in April by reading books donated to their library. The schools were Alston Primary, Berg Street Primary, Gateway Christian School, Thembelihle Primary and Woodlands Primary.

Teams answered questions in four categories based on themes in the books they read. Berg Street Primary 2 Team was the overall winner for the second consecutive year. Thembelihle Team 1 came second and Woodlands Team 1 came third. Prizes of books donated by The Times group were awarded to the winners.

The Phendulani competition takes place annually in Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Pietermaritzburg. It was founded by Marj Brown, a librarian and teacher at Roedean Girls Senior School in Johannesburg who also co-ordinates the South African leg of the international Kids' Lit competition.

News supplied by Laddsworth Primary School.

The bowling green was officially re-opened on Tuesday last week. Play started in good sunshine and we were surprised that more members had not turned out. However the clouds came up rapidly and play was abandoned after about 15 ends. Thursday followed a similar pattern. Competition was heightened by the fact that Richard Lister had provided hampers of roasted chickens and other tasty goodies as prizes for the winning team. Due to the mixture of forms of play, we decided that the team winning by the greatest margin would collect the prizes.

Despite a shower of rain at tea time we played on and managed a full 18 ends. Winners by about 24 shots were Chris Purchase, Taffy O'Neil-Williams and Anton Leisegang. (Their opponents chose to remain anonymous). The winner of a box of chocolates for the cut-throat was Brian Newton. Well done to all the winners, and sincere thanks to Richard for the prizes.

On Saturday we were forced to close the green again due to heavy rain overnight.

Weather permitting the IF Trips will be played on Friday 7th and both men's teams will have league matches at home on Saturday.

Duties: 9 – 15 Nov: OOD: Ron Buchel. Tabs: Mike Mylne. Duty Team: John Arnott. Teas on Sat. 15 Nov: Bernice and Taffy O'Neil-Williams.

News from Hilton Bowling Club.

Zandile Mgutshini has been announced as Head Girl at St Anne's next year and is supported by Deputy Head, Chiara Ferri.

Photograph supplied.

Hillcrest's loss of Jonny Fforde from Stretta Cafe is Hilton's gain, particularly for pizza and pasta lovers!

The opportunity offered to him by Mark Heinrich and Patrick Greenaway owners of Artisan Hilton matches Jonny's appetite for a new challenge. After four fulfilling years under Emil Venter at Stretta Café, Irish born Jonny has arrived in Hilton. He has checked out his midlands based competition and is here to fulfil his mission to steer Artisan in the direction he wants it to go.

Jonny's vison is for Artisan is to be known for the best pizza, coffee and service in the area. He sees the restaurant maturing into a vibey, relaxing, café culture destination which offers homely Italian food for the Midlands community.
Stretta patrons who experienced the magic Jonny brought to their tables have expressed sadness at his departure. His fiancé, Gilah and their 10 month old daughter, Erin Lily will join Jonny in Hilton.

By now book club ladies will be asking if Jonny is related to Katie Fforde the romance novelist...the answer is YES! They are cousins and another titbit you may like to know is that John Fforde, the well-known economist associated with The Bank of England, is his uncle.

So far Jonny is thoroughly pleased with Hilton's hedged lanes, rain and mist which provides this Irishman with a fabulous sense of being right at home!

A total of 166.4kg of bread tags, which is the equivalent of approximately 505 000 bread tags (over half a million loaves of bread), has been collected by Laddsworth Primary School over the past two years to donate to the QuadPara Association of South Africa (QASA).

The Mack family were responsible for counting the bread tags and for donating prizes to the winning classes.

Pictured L-R Rowan Mack, Sipho Mdletshe of QASA who received the bread tag collection and Duncan Mack.

News supplied.

Hilltops Pre-School is expanding and the two new classrooms and toilet block are close to completion! It will house the 2015 Grade R class which is now open for registration. Also under construction is a brand new outdoor play space with obstacle course. The aftercare service will run until 17:30 in 2015.

The holiday club is running at the school until the 16th January 2015. Please contact Julie (072 207 0743) or Lauren (084 352 8908).

Hilltops has secured a fantastic Grade R teacher- Caitlin Hull.

Caitlin is a qualified teacher with a Bachelor of Arts and an Honours degree from the University of Kwazulu Natal, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education in Foundation Phase and Early Childhood Development from the University of South Africa. She did her internship year at Cowan House and taught Grade RRR at Fleming Pre-Primary in Johannesburg for three years, Grade 2 at Northern Park Primary School and Grade RR and R at Merchiston Preparatory School.

She is married to Phil and has two little boys, Malachi and Levi. She has five years of teaching experience and loves working in the preschool environment, seeing children grow and learn through doing, playing, discovering and problem solving. She is looking forward to bringing her experience to Hilltops and starting the exciting journey of building a Grade R class, helping to grow the school and getting eager little learners ready for 'big school'.

The 2 ladies who started Hilltops - Debbie Coombes and Angie Muggleton, are both mothers and dedicated teachers whose passion and love for children shines through in the work they do. Hilltops is a warm, farm-style school nestled behind the Rotunda Centre in the beautiful Hilton and Midlands surrounds. They take children from 18 months through to Grade R and operate on the government school term and holiday dates. The school is open five days a week until 17:30. (The regular school day finishes at 12:15 but there is an aftercare service).

Please visit their website www.hilltopspreschool.co.za for much more information on the school, or "like" their Facebook page which is updated regularly with pictures of the children's artworks and activities, school information and interesting bits and pieces related to preschool children.

Contact Debbie or Angie on 076 124 8440 or email them on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For information on the aftercare service, please contact Julie (072 207 0743) or Lauren (084 352 8908).

Following six successful years at their current Practice, Umgeni Veterinary Clinic will be moving to new premises on 17 November 2014. Located at 4 Quarry Road, Hilton, veterinary services remain conveniently accessible for Customers.

The refurbished and modern premises will offer spacious consultation and visitor rooms, a recreational area for pets, an increased product range for animals and ample, secure parking.

"The decision to expand and invest further in our business was primarily driven by the growing and changing needs of the local market", said Dr Lee Pachonick, owner of the Practice.

'Our reputation for friendly professionalism, diversity of skills and unwavering compassion and care for our Customers and patients is of great importance to us. 'We are committed to adding value to all our pet care services', she added.

Dr Lee Pachonick and Dr Margie Roach are supported by two specialist veterinary nurses with extensive knowledge in primary animal health care; together with a team of efficient and welcoming front and back office staff.

The animal grooming parlour will continue to operate from the existing premises.

A series of pet promotions are planned leading up to Christmas. Consultation hours remain the same as do the office and emergency after hours contact details.

Umgeni Veterinary Clinic will be moving to their new premises at 4 Quarry Road, Hilton on Monday 17 November 2014. Contact details and consultation times remain unchanged. Tel : 033 343 4316 (o/h) or 033 343 4602 (emergency a/h). The new Practice is conveniently situated adjacent to their previous building and offers ample, secure parking and improved facilities.

Baobab Antiquity Trading have moved to the Build It Centre in Quarry Road. Take time to explore the bigger shop filled with desirable furniture and decor, do it before you make up your Christmas wish list!

Debbie Preston from Knight Security Solutions has shared the information below which was received from a client and says,"'Please be aware of another scam that targeted one of our clients over the past month."

"Hi Debbie, about 3 months ago we were contacted telephonically by a gentleman who said he was from Transnet, he asked if we wished to be added to the Transnet database. By being added to the database, we would be able to do quotations, work for Transnet and we would receive a vendor number.

He emailed us a Transnet supply chain document which we had to fill in and attach many of our business documents. We were very slow to respond and we received regular phone calls from him with regard to emailing these forms back. We eventually emailed the documents to him.

Yesterday (30 October 2014) we found out that this was a scam and our details were being used by someone in Johannesburg to obtain R300 000 worth of stock from a company in Johannesburg. The fraudster had used an email address which was very similar to ours and used the document that was supposedly for Transnet as a credit application at this company.

Please could you warn other businesses out there to be extremely cautious when responding to phone calls from anyone from Transnet. The fraudster even mentioned names of people listed on the Transnet website and changed the spelling of their names slightly. He was extremely clever, please be careful".

A record number of St Anne's girls attended the KZN Water Polo Capping Ceremony where Mark Andrews, ex SA Schools Water Polo and Springbok rugby player, gave an inspiring talk and presented each player with a Certificate of Achievement for being selected as KZN representatives. The players will take part in the inter-provincial tournament in Johannesburg from 12 – 16 December.

Back row: Isabella Bertossi (KZN U13), Megan Rebstein-Dovey (KZN U15), Sally Fowler (KZN U19 Captain), Camilla McCormack (KZN U19), Naomi Forrester-smith (KZN U16), Victoria Allan (KZN U16), Brady Wiseman KZN U15),
Front Row: Josie Tod (KZN U14), Emma Herbert (KZN U14), Katie Phillips (KZN U14)
Absent: Danielle Cullinan (KZN U14)

Photograph supplied.

Pietermaritzburg-based family band, Undivided Roots, was given an entire PA system by Big Beat Productions at a special MiTH (Music in The Hills) meeting in Hilton on Wednesday the 29th of October.

This talented family of Rasta musicians, with an inspirational background story, is made up entirely of siblings. They range in ages from seven to 30, all from the same mother and father. Father, Roots Cele, was a legend in PMB as a street musician, activist and inspiration to many, and taught all the kids how to play and read music. Band/family members are Wadada (30), Revival (23), Heaven (20), Spear (18), Rainbow (15) and Judgement (12).

The family knows hardship all too well, and live in small huts just outside PMB where they were born and raised. All Rastafarians, this beautiful, kind and self-motivated family's father passed away a few years ago. Band manager Gavin Paul Joliffe promised to take care of the kids if something were to happen to him – he is currently care taker and band manager. Undivided Roots has been busking for years and has performed at events such as Poet's porch, the Durban Spar Ladies race and the Royal Show in Pietermaritzburg.

The PA system was handed over by Big Beat Productions' Kevin Liddell, and will allow the band to play at the kind of small to medium sized venues where bands are sometimes expected to supply their own sound equipment. In addition, Dave Rossouw at Sign Solutions has donated a banner which features a logo designed and donated by Andrea Barras (Graphic Designer & Creative consultant).

Says Liddell: "I can remember watching Roots (the father) at a charming little pub called Churchill's many years ago. I had seen him around Maritzburg before, busking, but this was the first time I had watched him in a proper setting. As I watched him, he glanced up and shot me a smile, and I was astounded by the presence he radiated. The depth of the man was appealing, he had risen above race, class and any demographic imposed by the society of the time.

"Many years later, long after Roots' passing, we had an opportunity to hire the Undivided Roots for a function, after watching them busk outside a large retailer. Looking at the band, the children, I was again struck by the same impression that their father had left me with years before. They are beautiful, well mannered, humble, talented individuals who in spite of their difficult lives have still managed to rise above their circumstances.

"Our small contribution to the band will hopefully help them get one step closer to their dreams. To say that the band is a worthy cause is demeaning. They are not a charity case - charity implies a never-ending dependence which this band does not suffer from. I believe that right now they need all the help they can get so that one day in return they will be in a position to help others with their story, their message and their music."

Band inquiries
Gavin Paul Joliffe
Manager
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Undivided Roots za (Official band page)

Media Enquires
Charles Webster
MiTH
082 331 7271

About Big Beat Productions
Big Beat Productions is a staging company based in the KZN midlands. We provide sales, hire, repair, consulting and technical staff in the fields of temporary and permanent installations of sound, lighting, audio-visual and power reticulation systems. Our clients include both government departments and representation from the industrial, commercial and retail sectors. Visit our website here.

About MiTH (Music in the Hills)
MiTH is a weekly gathering of musicians and music lovers. It provides an opportunity for musicians to share the joy of their music with a friendly audience which includes fellow musicians as well as music connoisseurs. Whether you're a youngster looking for your first opportunity to perform publicly, or a more experienced/mature musician simply looking for people who are as passionate about music as you are, come along and join us.

Amongst the Hilton based businesses who enjoyed an evening wander through the St Anne's Wetland during the Laddsworth Night Relay last week were Pelican Print, Bella Donna Hair and Beauty, Darren the Barber and The Beauty Spot.

Team Pelican Print proudly achieved second place in the walking relay and their prizes of wine and nougat were well received.

'Our training paid off!' said Kerby.

Pictured below is Team Pelican Print L-R: Sarah Pover, Ruby Millar, Helen Millar and Kerby van Niekerk.