2006 - a review

Excerpts from the village gossip column throughout 2006, offering you a summary of life in the village from the webmaster's (admittedly heavily distorted) perspective. Most recent entries come first.
28 December	The Carols round the tree on the 15th December went very well. Lots of villagers turned out, and a lovely evening was had by all. Click here to see the pictures.
15 December	Brian and Ann McMath had a new son, Brodie, on 14th December. Click on the New Year's Eve 2006 pictures to see a picture of our most recent newcomer to the village.
13 December	Our village pub has been sold! It has been bought by Admiral Taverns, along with about 150 other Greeney King pubs. Click here to see their web site.
13 December	It would seem that the village is being taken over by birds! First of all we have the fabulous red kites that glide gracefully above the village. And now a bright green parakeet has joined in the avian fun. Then Lizzie bought 4 running ducks a few months ago.
12 December	Brendan Lynch's funeral took place in St Mary's Church on Tuesday 5th December.
11 December	Sunday 3rd December saw many young children from the village coming to the Wheatsheaf pub to put up the Christmas decorations.
24 November	Brendan Lynch (17), of Ramsbury, was sadly killed last night in an accident whilst on his moped.
15 November	The Sunday before last nearly witnessed the slaughter of villagers and visitors enjoying a quiet Sunday drink outside the pub. A motorbike coming from the Hungerford direction collided with a vehicle turning into the pub car park. The rider came off, and the bike continued on its own, unmanned, nearly knocking pub customers off their tables outside. Nobody was hurt.
15 November	The Halloween pictures are now on the web, with lots of villagers making a complete spectacle of themselves. Click here to see them
16 October	On Sunday, there there was simultaneously a baptism in the Church, the Harvest Festival also in the Church, and a visit by the Hash House Harriers (their slogan is 'The Drinking Club with a Running Problem, www.hhh.org.uk'.
14 October	Another one bites the dust... Dave (well-known as one of the barmen at The Wheatsheaf) and Kelly spliced the knot in Hungerford.
7 October	The bi-annual Art Exhibition (named, possible slightly unfortunately, Artex) took place at the village hall last night and today, organised by Peter Camfield, Click here for pictures.
7 October	Gemma brought her new son Tristam to the Art Exhibition. And 4 weeks ago, Gesa and Ross, had a new baby, Sia.
5 October	Darren Outridge, has departed on his world travels Click here to see his web site.
4 October	A villager has notified us about the Stick Insects official web site. Click here to go to it.
26 September	The annual Harvest Supper took place last night, brilliantly organised by David Hickford. Star guest was Nick Lumley, the incredibly talented local actor.
10 September	Helen and Tim Purslow got married yesterday in our village Church. Helen was very late indeed!
5 September	District council leader Chris Humphries' comment that it is "illegal for anyone to remove the chips [in the bins]".
4 September	Angela and Ivan Keen of The Groves, Chilton Foliat, have now produced a new Baby Boy, Joshua on the 22nd August 2006 Alex and Sam Wolclough's recent arrival, Kira, was christened in the village church last Sunday.
31 August	It is suggested that there should be an overnight vigilante force to tour the village every other Monday night to spot people putting their bin bags into others' wheelie bins.
30 August	A villager has suggested we adopt a "Pimp my bin" policy. Click here to see it.
28 August	Scandal hits the village. And the rest of Wiltshire. The new black bins delivered to all households in June this year, contain secret bugs. Yes, every single one of them. Now, as if it wasn't bad enough planting surreptitious bugs in our bins, and spying on us, the Council did not even let us know that they intended to do this.
16 August	It's a hands-free village. In the last month no less than 3 villagers have had incapacitated hands.
4 August	The hosepipe ban has taken its toll on pot planting through the village, and many people simply haven't bothered to plant up their pots this year as watering would be too much hassle. There are rumours that certain upstanding members of the community are getting round the hosepipe ban by devious means. Web visits have gone down during July, to an average of 83 people a day visiting our site. The bus shelter's thatch needs renewing. The village has embraced the new waste recycling initiative by our council with gusto. So have the maggots. And the flies. The red kites are still to be seen circling the village in their leisurely manner. Could be something to do with the pub's landlord feeding them scraps. And there seem to have been more butterflies than normal this year.
10 July	There are no less than 7 properties for sale on the main street, and quite a few others too.
1 July	June web stats show a record average of 114 people per day visiting our web site through that month. The highest number recorded was 207 people on June 6th.
25 June	The school fete took place yesterday, and was a great success. As well as all the usual stalls, the organisers had managed to persuade a couple of real daleks to turn up. Needless to say, these were a great success.
19 June	Amanda gave birth to Katie Charlotte, who was born weighing 7lb.
4 June	The village fete has happened was a great success. It was an archetypal, but different, English village fete blessed by fabulous weather. Click here to see the pictures. The net proceeds raised for the village were just under £5,000.
31 May	There is much property-orientated gossip in the village at the moment. Stud Farm House, on the main road, went on the market 4/5 weeks ago for £775,000, and an offer was accepted just a few weeks after for £950,000.
30 May	The village held a cricket match yesterday on Bank Holiday Monday. It was a fairly ramshackle affair (as usual) and was plagued by rain. A great time was had by all!
10 May	Following Brian and Eileen Keen's departure from the village, two new faces appear on the Parish Council: Nick Fritz and Lynne Quinton.
24 April	Our village has 8 pairs of fabulous red kites nesting here. Many of us in the centre of the village spent the best part of the day on Saturday just watching these beautiful, huge creatures slowly circling on the thermals.
2 April	A record 112 people a day visited the web site in March, with no less than 240 on 31 March alone.
31 March	The village was host to two fire engines and two police cars just before 9am this morning, and the centre of the village resembled downtown L.A. So what had happened? A low-loader lorry was driving along, and suddenly one of the hydraulic legs shot out on his right side, straight into three parked cars, tossing them about like giant's toys! Luckily, nobody was hurt.
29 March	Your webmaster was nearly wiped out the other day driving round the Littlecote corner.
20 March	The stats for March web visits so far show an incredible average of 101 people every day visiting the site. The smallest number of visitors in a day was 77, and the most 153. To put this into perspective, April 2005, a year ago, saw an average of only 44 people a day visiting us.
7 March	The newest arrivals to the village, Lisa and Oliver, have had a baby called Tristan.
5 February	The panto, Aladdin, is now over. What a performance! Everyone was incredible, and it was well worth the months of rehearsals. Click here for pics. Ramsbury Manor was the victim of a professionally organised burglary, and £30 million pounds worth of valuables were stolen. A Range Rover caught fire in the parking area next to the Tanyard, and firemen were called to deal with it.
21 January	Whale stranded in Chilton Foliat! Yes, you read it here first.
19 January	A horse bolted through the main street of the village a week ago on Sunday. The panto cast have been rehearsing furiously most nights.
1 January	Tim and Helen have announced their engagement. Many congratulations to both of them! Click here to see pictures of last night's New Year's Eve in the village pub.

Is there really a Fairyland in Chilton Foliat? Click here.