The Players celebrated their 50th anniversary in style with their production of The Wind in the Willows at Orchard Dene in July.

“The Wide World”, we were warned in the opening minutes of The Wind in the Willows, “is a topic we avoid.” And given the mayhem of the Wide World in 2026, who could argue with that? For two hours on a warm July evening, we needed only to remember that 2026 marks 50 years since the founding of the Blewbury Players, and that for their golden anniversary production they had invited us to share the garden of Orchard Dene with the creatures, human and otherwise, of former Blewbury resident Kenneth Grahame’s  landmark work of children’s literature

The Government has announced its reorganisation of local government, following the consultation earlier this year.

Blewbury will fall under a new unitary authority called Ridgeway, which will take on the roles currently fulfilled by Vale of White Horse District Council and Oxfordshire County Council. Details are at https://3councils.org.

Following careful consideration and the completion of the necessary consultation and decision-making process, it has been agreed that Blewbury Pre-School will close at the end of the Autumn Term in
December 2026.

Separately, Blewbury C of E Primary School will be opening a new early-years provision for children from two years old from January 2027. This will mean that children currently attending the Pre-School will have the opportunity to continue attending an early-years setting within the village. The new provision will be run by the Primary School and is separate from Blewbury Pre-School. For any questions regarding the new setting, including places and admissions, we would suggest contacting the school office at mailto:office.3248@blewbury.oxon.sch.uk

On 30th May Blewbury bellringers hosted a tower open afternoon in support of the Friends of St Michael’s group.

We were delighted by the interest and comments from the visitors. There were four sections on the tour, starting at ground level with a short history of the stained glass bell window. Then we went up the 39 spiral steps to enter the ringing chamber.

Here we talked about the bells and gave a demonstration on how to ring a bell, and also told the history of the clock with the opportunity to view its ancient mechanism. Further up some more steps to the belfry, where visitors were able to get up close to the historic 8 bells in their wooden frame. Finally, for the brave, there was a chance to get onto the tower roof and admire the magnificent views across the village and to the downs. To finish off the day Andrew Forman had devised a zip wire for teddy bears from the tower to the churchyard (see separate article).

Thanks to all who organised and came along to support this event and for the donations to the church building maintenance fund. We are thrilled to be teaching a few new recruits who are making excellent progress, and we invite anyone who would like to learn more about bell ringing to come up the tower on a Friday practice night.

This year’s Blewbury School Summer Fete was a great success, with a fantastic turnout from pupils, families and members of the local community.

Blessed with lovely sunny weather, everyone enjoyed an afternoon full of fun and entertainment. Highlights of the day included the ever-popular BBQ, an impressive Taekwondo demonstration, and the chance to soak Mr Coleman in the splat-the-teacher attraction, which proved to be a favourite with the children.

A huge thank you goes to the PTA for all their hard work in organising such a wonderful event, and to everyone in the community for their continued support. The fete was a brilliant example of the community coming together and making lasting memories.

The picture shows Father Jason joining in with soaking Mr Coleman.

If you spotted an Unidentified Flying Object in the vicinity of the church on 30th May…

It may have been one of the brave teddy bears who undertook the zip wire descent from the top of the tower as part of the Tower Open Day, along with a tour of the tower organised by the Bellringers. Thanks to them, Andrew Forman and the Friends of St Michael’s for organising the event, which raised over £160.