BVS Comedy Night – Saturday 8th March

Next up, the legendary Blewbury Comedy Night returns to the Village Hall on Saturday 8th March. Paddy Lenox is back to compere, bringing three top comedians to entertain us. Whether you’ve been before or are a newcomer, please support this acclaimed event (over 18s only). All profits will go to the Parish Council for maintenance of the village playgrounds. Tickets are £18 – the box office will open at 09:00 on Monday 3rd February at: https://buytickets.at/blewburyvillagesociety/1531443 or scan the QR code.

Blewbury WI’s next main meeting is on Wednesday February 26th in the Vale room of the Village Hall at 7.30pm.  The talk, which promises to be very interesting, is “A Day in an English Courtroom” with Graham Loxton-Best.

We hope to hear some insights into the workings of a court room.  Who is who and what is their function?  Some traditions explained plus some amusing but true anecdotes, we understand.  We have heard on the grapevine that Graham was a former Court Usher and we are hoping it will be an insight into ‘behind the scenes’.  A revelation for anybody who has never been in court?

To find out more, ring our Secretary, Joy, on 850543 or email blewburywi(at)gmail.com.  Blewbury WI is looking forward to a brilliant 2025.

Calendar

We have a few interesting events coming up that we hope you will come to.

Repair café, Sun 23 Feb, 2 to 4pm, Village Hall. Bring your household items including clothing, electrical, and gardening articles for mending, tools for sharpening and bikes for fixing for free. There is also an expert to help you with any IT problems on your phone or tablet. Refreshments available. Donations welcome to cover costs.

Nature Reserve. Some interesting birds have been seen recently – Snipe, Teal and Fieldfare – so do visit. The last volunteering day had to be cancelled due to sub-zero temperatures when the pond was frozen. We will now be maintaining the hedging and working on the willows invading the pond on Saturday 8 February between 1000 and noon. Everyone welcome. More details from the secretary (email below).

A talk entitled “A Taste of Honey:  bees and bee keeping”. Mon 10 March, 8pm, Melland Room. Yvonne Parks, a Trustee of the Oxfordshire Bee Keeping Association (OBKA), will talk about different types of bees and why they are so important to our ecosystem. See page 5 for details.

Quaker Wood. We had two great planting days in early December, one with the school when every pupil planted a tree, and then we had over 25 volunteers planting over 100 more shrubs and trees. Great result! Thanks to everyone for putting in some hard work in challenging ground conditions to say the least. We are now working on improving the gate so that everyone can enjoy walking through the site.

Our Chairman, John Ogden adds: many thanks to Bob and June Downey for their kind words in the December Bulletin thanking SB for its efforts, particularly at the Community Orchard and on the Nature Reserve. It’s good to know that our work is appreciated, and we hope that in time, you will also enjoy Quaker Wood.

If you want to know more about Sustainable Blewbury and become a supporter who receives occasional newsletters, email secretary@sustainable-blewbury.org.uk.

Our next session is on Monday 3rd February. Please note we are going to start slightly later: 10am – 11.30am

We welcome all bumps! babies & toddlers, along with parents, grandparents or carers. We meet in the Vale Room, Blewbury Village Hall. Here is a warm, friendly and safe place to enjoy the company of others and have some refreshment as the little ones have fun with toys, learning to play together. We finish the session with songs and action rhymes. A donation of £2 is appreciated towards our costs. Mothers’ Union hosts look forward to welcoming you. Any queries, contact Louise 07837 009730

Thank you to everyone who came to Bonfire Night, and particularly to the Amazons for lending us their floodlights, Savages for providing the event banner, Martin Cox for his generator, Pete Baker for the amazing fireworks display, and all the helpers who collected wood, baked and served potatoes, ran the entrance desks, marshalled, organised and served beer, wine and other goodies, and much more: we could not have done it without you! Over 900 people attended, making it a very successful event – so much so that we got through all the supplies of beer and nearly all the mulled wine!

Christmas is coming…

The BVS is delighted to continue running two favourite Christmas events this year: Santa’s Sleigh and Carols on the Playclose on Christmas Eve; and the Boxing Day Walk on 26th December. See page 3 for more details.

• Tuesday 24th December – Santa’s Sleigh and Carols on the Playclose. Santa’s village tour starts at Bohams Road (London Road end) at 5:00 pm and ends in the Playclose at 6:30 pm, where he will give out presents. Please see the Christmas feature on page 3 for details of how to get your child onto Santa’s list!
• Thursday 26th December – Boxing Day Walk. Registration from 10:00 am at the Village Hall, skits at 10:30 am and walk at 11:00 am.

Plus, do join us to blow off the cobwebs/clear the hangover for the convivial Roger Cambray Memorial Walk from Blewbury to The Bell Inn at Aldworth and start the new year on a high note! We meet at The Pound at 10:30 am on Wednesday 1st January 2025.

BVS marquee for hire

The BVS marquee is available for hire by other groups, societies and individuals in the village for a small charge. It measures 12m × 6m and has sides if needed. If you were at the Beer Festival, or have supported the Fireworks Night or Summer Dance, you may have seen it in action. To book it, contact lydia.wanstall@gmail.com.

Blewbury WI’s next main meeting is their annual Christmas lunch – members only this time.  This will be held at the Goring and Streatley golf club on Thursday 5 December. But do look out for our 22 January 2025 meeting which will be “The amazing, life-saving medical detection dogs”. Details in the next Bulletin.

If you’d like to come along with someone else or find out more, ring our Secretary, Joy, on 850543 or email blewburywi@gmail.com.  Come as a visitor – you will be made so welcome!

Calendar of events

Prof. Emma Smith in Blewbury for talk on Shakespeare’s ‘Romance Plays’

In a great coup for Blewbury’s newly-formed Shakespeare group (now officially known as The Motley Crew!) Emma Smith, of Hertford College, Oxford, has agreed to give a talk on Shakespeare’s late works Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline and The Tempest, often collectively known as the ‘Romance Plays’. Professor Smith is among the best-known names in contemporary Shakespeare scholarship: a world-leading authority on the First Folio, a regular guest on Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time on Radio 4, and the author or co-author of multiple studies of the Poet and his work. She’s well known because she’s not only a great scholar but also a great speaker, so her appearance at 8pm on Monday September 30th in Blewbury Village Hall is a not-to-be-missed opportunity for all local residents who are remotely interested in Shakespeare. Our thanks go to Motley Crew member Sarah Salter for making it happen!

Tickets are a bargain at £7.50, including a glass of refreshment, and are on sale at the Post Office or can be reserved by email at admin@themotleycrew.org.uk. You can also use this address to join the Motley Crew mailing list.