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Gossip 10/04-08/05
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| Gossip
column - older entries |
| Dateline:
4 October 2008 |
| The late
Gerald Ward's Service of Thanksgiving took place
yesterday in the village church. About 500 people
attended to celebrate this popular landowner's life,
and to bid farewell to him in style. The service was
conducted by our soon to be retiring vicars, John and
Sandy Railton. The church could not seat everyone who
attended, and so two marquees, complete with candelabra
and large television screens, were erected in the
church grounds. Gerald died playing golf, and will be
sorely missed by his family at Chilton Lodge and the
estate. Gerald was a remarkable figure, contributing
generously and enthusiastically to the community, both
locally and nationally, inputting not just donations,
but also a very considerable amount of time. He was a
good friend of Prince Charles, who gave an excellent,
heartfelt, address at the church, and was godfather to
Prince Harry, who was also at the service. Needless to
say, the paparazzi were out in force to steal shots of
the royalty. After the service, guests were invited to
join the family at Chilton Lodge for refreshments in
the marquee erected in the grounds. The family asked
the webmaster not to take intrusive pictures,
and so he respected their wishes. Some snaps were
taken of the guests at the church, and you can see
them by clicking here. |
| Dateline|:
4 October 2008 |
| We are sad
to report that villager Michael Goodfield died
yesterday morning,
aged 58, in the Great Western Hospital, after
suffering from cancer for some time. He leaves his two
sons, Oliver, aged 26, and Claude, aged 19, as well as
Pam, Claude's mother. He will be sorely missed. |
| Dateline:
1 October 2008 |
| This
weekend, the Wheatsheaf pub in the village is having
an evening which should be most enjoyable. It's a
Monty Python evening, starting at 6pm on Sunday 5th
October. Be there and have a great time! |
| Dateline:
28 September 2008 |
| Our rectors,
John and Sandy Railton (who are married to each
other), are retiring from the the parishes they have
looked after so well over the years. Their final
service will be at Ramsbury's Holy Cross Church on 26 October at
11am, with drinks and nibbles in the Memorial Hall
after. |
| Dateline:
28 September 2008 |
| There's a Service of Thanksgiving in St Mary’s Church,
Chilton Foliat, for Gerald Ward, who died this week, on Friday 3rd October at 11.00am. |
| Dateline:
28 September 2008 |
| There's a Guided Walk
on Sunday 5th October, which sounds good for anyone
interested iin the village. It's the Two Rivers Autumn Walk led by HEAT Biodiversity Group.
Meet Hungerford Town Hall steps 2.30pm for a 3.5 mile guided walk across Hungerford and Chilton Marshes. Break for tea & cake in Leverton and return via Eddington around 5pm. |
| Dateline:
28 September 2008 |
| The annual
Harvest Supper took place last night, ably organised
by David and Edwina Hickford, and their willing team
of volunteers. A fantastic evening was had by all the
villagers who came, including a few new faces. Click
here to see the photographs. |
| Dateline:
24 September 2008 |
| It is with
sadness that we have to report that local landowner
Gerald Ward died yesterday, aged 70. Gerald was a
notable local figure who always contributed
actively to village life. He will be sadly
missed by his family and villagers alike. |
| Dateline:
21 September 2008 |
| A hot
air balloon landed in the Rec yesterday. It was
captured by a villager, with his daughter
standing guard. |
 |
|
| Dateline:
16 September 2008 |
| Yet again,
the village was invaded by massive farm machinery, and
this time, your webmaster managed to get his camera
out in time. Traffic came to a standstill, as the
mobile library van was parked by the side of the road,
and this made the road too narrow for the behemoths to
pass, creating gridlock in the village. Click
here to see what it looked like. |
| Dateline:
13 September 2008 |
| Mamma Mia
happened in the village hall tonight. Well, it did for
all the women. As you can see from the pictures (click
here to see them), men were noticeably absent from the
dance floor. Everyone had a fantastic time, and the
proceeds from the door will go to the school and the
village hall, where it happened. The webmaster has
resisted the temptation to caption the photographs. |
| Dateline:
13 September 2008 |
| There will
be a Coffee Morning at The Wheatsheaf on Friday 26th
September 10am-12pm in aid of MacMillan Cancer
Support. Please come and give your support |
| Dateline:
11 September 2008 |
| Mamma Mia
(an Abba night, as you might guess from the title)
comes to the village this Saturday 13th at 8pm. It'll
be a great evening, and tickets at £10 are cheap!
Bring your own drink and snacks, or buy them at The
Wheatsheaf next door. The evening is in aid of
charity, specifically our village school and the
village hall. Buy your tickets from Jackie on 01488
682779. |
| Dateline:
11 September 2008 |
| OK, so the
webmaster's been a bit slack over the last month. Not
a load of updates. If any. It's been a miserable
summer, as everyone knows, and the great English
weather has not let us down by being unrelentingly
gloomy and wet. Of course, we know when summer was
supposed to come back in July, when the village was
full of the sound of strimmers and mowers, and gigantic
farm machinery like something out of star wars started
rolling through the village. It was amazing that not
more of the village was demolished, and only a piece
of guttering was dragged off by one of the behemoths.
It was quite amusing to see the groom (it was his
wedding morning) chasing the machine in full wedding
regalia including tails. Amusing for the onlookers,
but probably not for him! |
| Dateline:
11 August 2008 |
| A few days
ago it was mentioned here that a new Bed and Breakfast
had started in the village, Curers Cottage. They now
have their own web site live, www.CurersCottage.co.uk,
where you can see everything about this pretty and
welcoming home. |
| Dateline:
11 August 2008 |
| Saturday was
very wet and windy. Which was a shame, because the
landlady of the village pub had organised an
impressive hog roast in the pub garden to celebrate
her birthday. But despite the efforts of the British
weather, a good time was had by all in the village
hall. |
| Dateline:
5 August 2008 |
| The village
has a new Bed & Breakfast, situated conveniently
at the bottom of Stag Hill. Julie and Peter charge
very reasonable rates, and, according to the first
guests a couple of days ago, the breakfast is
delicious. Not surprising, really, since Julie is an
excellent cook. Phone them on 01488 684490 to book. |
| Dateline:
27 July 2008 |
| Yesterday
was a fabulous day. Sunny and dry. What a great day
for Lizzy and Trevor's wedding. Click
here for the photos. |
| Dateline:
20 July 2008 |
| Today saw
the great village bike ride as part of the
national NSPCC Bike Run. Adults and kids all cycled
over to Ramsbury via Littlecote House. The weather was
perfect - not too hot, and dry. A great time was had
by all. Click
here to see the photos, taken by the webmaster in
his very strenuous support role in the First Aid Land
Rover. |
| Dateline:
12 July 2008 |
| There have
been at least 3 birthdays in the village in the last
couple of days, including the webmaster's. Lots of
celebrating involved. |
| Dateline:
8 July 2008 |
| The
webmaster sometimes received appeals from charities,
and today he received a call from Callum's
Appeal. This is to raise funds form a 5-year old
Wiltshire boy to have treatment for an appalling form
of cancer, Medulloblastoma. To visit his web site,
learn what it's about, and hopefully donate something
to his appeal, visit the website, www.callumsappeal.co.uk. |
| Dateline:
2 July 2008 |
| An art
exhibition will be happening in the village very
shortly. In fact, extremely shortly, as the webmaster
did not announce this until now. The first weekend has
already happened. Sorry to all artists. To make up
for, it , go to at The Birches (on the main road just
before the bend and junction with the Leverton road),
on the weekends of June 28/29, July 5/6 & 19/20,
10.30am-5pm. It's all part of HADCAF, www.hadcaf.co.uk.
The exhibition features 7 local artists, including a
photographer and a fashion designer. Visitors
are welcome to wander round the garden and meadow (no
grandiose claims for either - it's just a garden, but
might still be colourful). A friendly welcome
awaits! |
| Dateline:
17 June 2008 |
Wheelie bins
are in the news again (see gossip pages passim). The Government said pilot schemes testing micro-chipped wheelie bins will go ahead even though one council which tried out the technology scrapped it after it "failed to work".
The micro-chips enable bins to be weighed by the refuse lorry so the amount each household recycles and throws away can be assessed.
South Norfolk Council became the first in England to use the micro-chipped bins which it introduced in 2002 but scrapped the initiative following technology problems.
The Tory-run authority blamed a combination of electrical, data, mechanical and
hydraulic faults. (from www.aol.co.uk). |
| Dateline:
11 June 2008 |
| Your
webmaster has just realised that he has not reported
on web stats for the last couple of months. So the
propeller-heads amongst you must be very frustrated.
Sorry! So here they are, in all their glory. It should
be noted that, for inexplicable reasons that the
webmaster is unable to fathom, the server was down for
almost a week before the fete (thanks for telling him,
Daz), and also on a few days in May. So this has
reduced the average number of visitors significantly
in those two months. Lots of people were trying to get
on it, but couldn't, thanks to the server. So, April's
average number of visitors at 177 a day was the highest
in the last 12 months, and possibly longer, although
the webmaster does not hoard stats for longer than a
year. May, at 150 a day on average, was not bad, but
the average would have been a lot better if it was not
for several days when the server was down. June to
date, is just pathetic, with an average of only 68
visitors a day on average. But then, the web server
was out of action for 7 out of the 9 days so far in
June. In fact, June 8th saw an impressive number of
181 visits just on that one day. Who knows what to
make of all that? But that's what the facts are! |
| Dateline:
7 June 2008 |
| Despite the
best efforts of the Adviser (see below), the Village
Fete happened today, and was a great success. Lots of
people turned up, and the sun shone, in marked
contract to recent weather. Congratulations to Lizzy
Grey, the chair, for organising it. She was ably
helped by many villagers, especially the Blaneys and
the new parents, the Purslows. Lizzy has one or
two other things to think about too, like getting
married in just over a month. OK, so it's not her
first time, but then the webmaster can say the same
about himself. Let's hope that practice makes
perfect!
The fete was a lovely
day for the village, enjoyed by all who were there.
The focal point was certainly the dog show, with
intense competition for the prizes. Your webmaster
tried wagging his tail for one of the classes, and
indeed barking the loudest, but did not succeed in
getting near any prize.
A tiger moth biplane
made an impressive fly-past, the Hungerford brass band
played impressively when they were not contributing to
the proceeds at the fete bar, the BBQ team under David
H did a wonderful job, and there were plants galore
from the Martin family, and John & Yvonne Knibbs.
Loads of cakes were on offer, and the webmaster was
very disappointed to find that one delicious looking
one he has his eye on has gone by the time he got back
to the stand less than an hour later. Jim Hynes'
miniature traction engines were a hit with everyone,
and luckily no children (or adults) lost any digits or
limbs in the gears.
The pictures are here
for all to see. Click
here.
As usual, a huge amount
of effort was put in by the village, and a great day
was had by all. |
| Dateline:
4 June 2008 |
| The locally
published magazine, The Adviser, has kindly printed an
article promoting the Chilton Foliat Fete, which
happens this Saturday, 7th June. Click
here to see lots more detail. Unfortunately, there
was rather a large misprint with the month in both
the headline and the copy. It said the date was
to be 7th November 2008. The webmaster sincerely hopes
that nobody turns out on that date, as it is likely to
be rather cold and inappropriate for any village fete.
Unless you are on the equator. The Advisor obviously
needs a more dedicated proof-reader. Any volunteers?
See you all on Saturday, 7th June 2008, at the Rec. |
| Dateline:
4 June 2008 |
| The minutes
of both the Annual General Meeting and the Annual
Parish Meeting are now up on this web. Click
here to read them. |
| Dateline:
31 May 2008 |
| Like much of
the country, the village was inundated with rain the
other day. The main street was like a river, and even
the long-standing Chilton Ford outside the pub was
absorbed into it. The good news on the latter is that
it now seems to have been mended by a team of workmen
who appeared last week. At last! Finally, a new joke
has been sent in, which is particularly appropriate
for a rural farming community like ours. Click
here to read it. |
| Dateline:
26 May 2008 |
| Nick and
Valentina Fritz moved out of the village this week, to
neighbouring Hungerford. The webmaster wanted to write
something about Nick in particular, but it turned out
too much like an obituary, so it doesn't appear here.
Suffice to say, Nick has raised serious money for
village community projects, and and his well-meaning
nature will be missed by many in the village, as will
the lovely Valentina. It is unlikely it will be the
last we see of either of them! |
| Dateline:
26 May 2008 |
| The bank
holiday has now drawn to a close, and what a washout
it proved to be. There has been so much rain that even
the now-famous Chilton Ford was not noticeable as the
road resembled a river. The annual village cricket
match was not just cancelled, but nobody could be
bothered to turn up because they did not have enough
canoes to navigate the Rec, or waterproofs. Shame,
since it's normally a lot of fun avoiding the rabbit
holes and molehills. |
| Dateline:
26 May 2008 |
| A villager
has drawn to our attention a very strange ritual in Spain
involving grown men jumping over babies to ward off
the devil. Click
here to read the BBC news report. The webmaster
wonders if this could catch on in Chilton Foliat, or
if it is just to weird even for this village. |
| Dateline:
23 May 2008 |
| Speaking of Chilton
Ford (yes, the water leak across the road is still
there), a villager has sent in an educational story
about the perils of drinking water. Click
here to read it. |
| Dateline:
21 May 2008 |
| The village
fete is almost on us. It happens on Saturday 7th June
from 12.30 to 4.00pm. It will incorporate the 2nd
village dog show which, if last year's event is
anything to go by, should be hilarious. Bring along
your mutt and join in the fun! Click
here to view everything about the fete. |
| Dateline:
12 May 2008 |
| Sausages and
Mr F. Watch this space. Sausage-fanciers in the
village take note. |
| Dateline:
12 May 2008 |
| Chilton
Foliat is now renamed Chilton Ford. It has been
through several name changes in the past few years, including
Nick Foliat and Chicken Foliat. There is a water
leak outside the pub, which has been there for quite a
while now. As anyone who drives through the village
will know, your car gets wet. If it carries on like
this, it will put the local car washes out of
business.
It appears that Thames
Water is taking a very laid-back attitude towards it.
Tracy, the pub's landlady, has already reported the
leak to them, and a local resident phoned them today.
Only to be told that it is not scheduled for repair
until the 18th May.
The resident (Liz O)
reports: "Of course the cost will be taken by Thames
Water which of course means yours and my water bill and I find it totally unacceptable to have to wait so long for the water people to repair such a major leak
losing gallons of precious water. So much so I have written to Michael Ancram and ask that as many residents as possible do the same, these companies need a shake up so lets target our MP and get him to do something."
After a few years of
hosepipe bans in the area, nothing has been done by
Thames Water about this serious leak for several
weeks. The entire village could run its hosepipes for
the entire summer from this one leak, so much water is
being lost. It's getting so bad, that it appears
to be seeping into the foundations of the lady's house
over the road from the pub. It is to be hoped that
Thames Water will be rebuilding her house when it
floats down what remains of the river Kennet, whose
levels have been much lower than they should be thanks
to a water authority (wonder which one?!) taking water
out of it up-stream. |
| Dateline:
8 May 2008 |
| The minutes
of the 2007 Annual Parish Meeting, and the agendas for
the 2008 Annual General Meeting and Annual Parish
Meets are now up on this web site. Click
here to read them. They both take place on Tuesday
13th May 2008 at 8pm at the Village Hall. It's your
parish, so come along and take part. |
| Dateline:
3 May 2008 |
| The village
witnessed a convoy of World War II army vehicles
passing through this morning. Click
here to see the pictures. It's all part of a
massive reenactment of the area's role in World War
II, called Route to Victory. Click
here to visit the home site of the organisers.
It's well worth a visit. |
| Dateline:
27 April 2008 |
| News has
just come in that a village family, David and Amanda
Weller and their children, are going to leave. It is
not because they don't like the village. Quite the
reverse. But David's work is in Rugby, and the daily
commute has become just too much. They have made a
great contribution to the village, and Amanda has put
a lot of effort into running the toddlers' group, Chilton
Chicks. We wish them well. |
| Dateline:
27 April 2008 |
| The latest
police bulletin is up on the web site. Click
here to read it. |
| Dateline:
27 April 2008 |
| The village
hall will be closed from 29 April to 1 May for
treatment to the woodwork. It will be open as usual
from Friday 2 May. |
| Dateline:
6 April 2008 |
| Your
webmaster woke up this morning thinking that he was
hallucinating. Now, most people who know him would say
that is his normal state of mind. Very unkind. But he
wasn't. Because the white landscape he saw when he
drew his curtains at around 7am was not in his
imagination. It had snowed in the last hour or so. And
not just a little. It was about 3 inches deep. If
you'd like to see the evidence, click
here for photos taken in the village from around
7am through to just after 5pm. They are in the same
time sequence as they were taken. So you can see
before and after. |
| Dateline:
6 April 2008 |
| The Parish
Council could learn something from the current
elections for the Mayor of London. Apparently, the
Labour party apparatchniks have been ordered not to
refer to the follically-challenged Boris Johnson, as
'Boris'. Apparently this gives him more gravitas.
Then, on another note, as reported by the estimable
Sunday Times (a serious newspaper - nothing to do with
Sky TV or the Sun, of course), Boris's adversary, Ken
Livingstone, is coming under some scrutiny regarding
his personal life. As Ken (the Labour bigwigs (sorry
Tessa Jowell - yes it's you) allow us to know him as
just 'Ken') says, "I don't think anybody in this
city will be shocked by what two consenting adults do,
as long as you don't include children, animals and
vegetables". That's a fair point, and many in a
rural community like this could learn to be much less
personal with the latter two categories than they have
in the past. |
| Dateline:
2 April 2008 |
| Congratulations
are in order to Helen and Tim Purslow, who have given
birth (well, Helen did, anyway), to a very healthy baby
boy, Alexander (known already as Alex). Although the
webmaster cannot claim to have met Alex himself, he
has it on extremely good authority that Alex is very
cute, and adorable. Many congratulations to Helen and
Tim. |
| Dateline:
1 April 2008 |
| The
webmaster slipped in his duties to the village today,
and will have to wait another year to make the most of
it. He missed the opportunity to write a good April's
Fool here. But he was taken in by the BBC this
morning, who showed some brilliant film of the newly
discovered flying penguins. He believed it completely,
until his wife pointed out the date. But, who cares,
it was very well conceived and long may it last! Now,
flying penguins over Chilton Foliat could be
interesting - much better the Canadian Geese. |
| Dateline:
23 March 2008 (Easter Day) |
| As anyone
who lives in the village will know, it snowed
yesterday and today. It's been put here for the
record, so that anyone reviewing the village web site
in ten or twenty years will know. Of course, by that
time, nobody will be visiting the website because
fossil fuels will have been exhausted (or nearly), and
there are even now no viable alternative is even being
planned, let alone built. So there will be no electricity
to power a single computer. Adieu life as we know it. |
| Dateline:
22 March 2008 |
| We've just
received a very detailed enquiry from Judy Bishop
(nee), asking various questions about the village. Click
here to see the full email, plus Judy's contact
email if you have any information that will help her. |
| Dateline:
22 March 2008 |
|
Received
today from a villager. She's got a good point. Any
comments, please email
the webmaster and he'll get them all together,
anedsee if anything can be done. What's your
connection speed?
I
have been having considerable problems recently with
connectivity and speed. I have just done a
“speed” test and it says that my download speed
was 952-968 Kbps; upload speed 243-242 Kbps.
I
just wondered what the rest of the village is managing
and with which ISP. Perhaps the village should
be lobbying BT for a better service. |
| Dateline:
20 March 2008 |
| Received
from yet another villager! The webmaster has some
suggestions as to the guilty party for the plum tree.
The woodpeckers. They are fabulous birds, but very
destructive to trees. The webmaster has been woken up
(well, almost!) by them for the last few years, and
only discovered what they were pecking when he found
his own plum tree had blown down, And the culprits
were? Woodpeckers.
One casualty of the storm
on 10th March was the small plum tree at the top end of the recreation ground. Half of it blew down last year and I guess it was either rotten inside or very weak, a shame because it was a useful free source of fruit for me to pick and cook!!
The next VH Committee meeting will be at Cedar Cottage on Thursday 20th March @ 8pm.
Village residents comments and suggestions for entertainment in the Village Hall are always welcome, please contact this web site; the chairman or secretary, thank you. |
| Dateline:
20 March 2008 |
| The
webmaster has no idea what's going on here, but he
keeps getting unsolicited emails from villagers.
Here's another one, which is particularly apt, given
where we live.
A man owned a small farm in Wiltshire. The
UK National Wage & Hour Department claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him.
"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.
"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him £200 a week plus free room and board. The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her £150 per week plus free room and board. Then there's the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about £10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of Whisky every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."
"That's the fella I want to talk to ... the half-wit," said the agent.
"That would be me," replied the farmer. |
| Dateline:
20 March 2008 |
Easter Sunday 23rd March,
Hungerford Farmers Market 9am - 1.30 pm
Bring your spare seeds or seeds you have saved from your garden to swap.
Vegetables, Flowers and Bulbs
If possible please bring your seeds in envelopes of 10 -20 seeds (a 1 person portion)
labeled with the variety and any pertinent planting / growing information.
If you haven't got seeds to swap come down anyway as I am sure we will have some surplus to give away.
We will also have :
- hot vegetable soup to taste
free recipe leaflets - what to cook with what's in season
information on what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint, books, magazines to browse
ideas for future food related projects to start in Hungerford - let's have your input !
In addition to the
seed swap, we are also now doing egg decorating for
kids and prizes for the best decorated egg on the HEAT
stall - bit of Easter flavour.
Future events :
April market - planting workshop to show kids and novice gardeners how to plant their new seeds in recycled containers (start saving your cardboard egg boxes now)
May market - plant swap so you can get rid of your surplus and gain some new.
Hope to see you (plus seeds) Easter Sunday. |
| Dateline:
20 March 2008 |
| The
following email has been received from another
villager. Looks worth a visit.
A useful website for
reporting problems to our local councils, whichever
side of the county border you live on: http://www.fixmystreet.com/ |
| Dateline:
20 March 2008 |
| The
following email has been received from a villager.
Make of it what you want!
Not Chilton but it may have an impact. The following has been officially applied for:
Berkshire, West Berkshire 07/02481/FULC
Pure Power Holdings Ltd, Ridgeway Grain & Saxon Storage, Lambourn Woodlands, Hungerford, RG17 7TJ
Pure Power Holdings Ltd, 6, Park Street, Cirencester
Installation of a 3mw renewable power station to use mixed waste wood as fuel
Interesting or not do you think? |
| Dateline:
20 March 2008 |
| A villager
(yes, it could be the same lady who sent the pics
below), has just sent in a great idea for our local
pub, The Wheatsheaf. Click
here to see what is suggested. Dinner at The
Wheatsheaf in the sky is certainly an appealing idea!
Anyone up for it? |
| Dateline:
20 March 2008 |
| As
Easter is fast approaching, a villager has chosen to send
in a photo captioned 'Spot the Bunny'. Click
here to see if you can see the bunny, or work
out where it is. It's very appropriate,
especially since we're a rural community here!
This may not be so suitable for veggies, or
those of a sensitive nature. She (the same
villager, that is) also sent the picture on the
right! This will conjure up many sympathies for
parents who have been doing the rounds of the
supermarkets in the last few days. Click on the
picture to see a bigger version. |
|
|
| Dateline:
19 March 2008 |
| There was a
big turnout of villagers, family and friends for the
funeral this week of Ron Liddiard, a much-liked local
resident who lived on Stag Hill, and died aged 77.
Brian and Eileen even came up from the Isle of Wight
to pay their respects. |
| Dateline:
7 March 2008 |
| The
following email has been received by the webmaster.
This could be a hoax, or it could be real. In any
event, be careful about opening (i.e. do NOT open
them) emails which have 'postcard' somewhere in them.
There is is a
new computer virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. This is the reason why you need to send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
If you receive a mail called POSTCARD," even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it!
This virus has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee a few days ago, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus.
This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept. |
| Dateline:
7 March 2008 |
| The agenda
for the next Parish Council meeting is now up on the
web. Click here to
see it. |
| Dateline:
7 March 2008 |
| Our
local bobbies have been active in providing
safe entertainment for local children. They've
organised an event (see on right) which
promises to be fun. Click on the picture to
see a bigger poster. |
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|
| Dateline:
7 March 2008 |
| Received
from a villager:
Trindledown Farm in Great Shefford is part of the Animal Welfare Trust and provide retirement homes for all different kinds of animals. A great bunch of very dedicated workers run the place and they are in constant need of blankets; towels and quilts. If anyone has anything like that they are replacing or throwing away please contact Jackie at 01488 638584 or if they want to bring items to me I will be happy to deliver them to Trindledown. It's a lovely place to visit with the children but they do ask that you ring first, volunteer workers are always wanted for all kinds of jobs and they operate an adoption service too so if you can't have a pet at home you may like to adopt one of the pets at Trindledown. The Farm is run on private donations and bequests only and they never put a healthy animal down.
The link at the beginning of this article goes
straight to a very good BBC review website. |
| Dateline:
7 March 2008 |
| The
webmaster apologies for the break in web postings. He
has been having problems with his computers which
(hopefully) are now resolved. So it should be service
as normal now! But it has not damaged the amnount of
people who visit the site hugely. February 2008 saw
151 people a day coming here, and January was 154 a
day. Not bad for a small village like us with a population
of only about 300! |
| Dateline:
17 February 2008 |
| The web site
has received a request to publicise an event happening
in Hungerford a week today. It's called seed swap, at
Hungerford Farmers' Market on Sunday 24th February
9am-1.30pm. Called 'Seedy Sunday', everyone is
encouraged to bring along their surplus seeds, or ones
they have saved from their gardens. You are asked to
bring them in small packets, or envelopes of 10-20
seeds.
We're happy to
publicise it here. After all, we live in the country,
and everyone must have seeds in their gardens to take
along. Some of the more active (in their imagination,
anyway) men in the village would probably like to
donate their own seeds too. But remember boys that, as
it says above, they must be in envelopes of 10-20
seeds. And the envelopes must be dry. 10cc sang a song
called 'I'm not in love', but remember why the band
called themselves what they did. 10cc will fit in most
envelopes.
There are other
Farmers' Market events planned, so come along and
support them:
PLANTING WORKSHOP - April Farmers Market, Sunday 27th April. Bring your seeds along + we’ll show you how to plant them
PLANT SWAP – May Farmers Market Sunday, Sunday 25th May. Bring along your
surplus plants and swap them for something different
Events are held at the Hungerford Environmental Action Team stall on the Farmers Market |
| Dateline:
17 February 2008 |
| We could be
up for a big change in the village soon, with metal
detectors appearing outside the village pub. Today's
Sunday Times reports that police are going to be
issued with airport-style metal detectors which can be
folded up into the boot of a police car and erected in
just 5 minutes when needed. They are going to be
positioned outside pubs and clubs to find youths (sic)
carrying knives. Now, it has to be said, that
nobody in recent memory has witnessed any knife crime
in the village. That's apart from a couple of years
ago, when the pub landlord came for a chat with the
webmaster one summer's afternoon, and as he was
leaving, a very sharp and large kitchen knife fell
from his jacket sleeve and clattered on the ground.
His intention was to commit suicide. The webmaster and
another local disarmed and dissuaded him, because none
of them wanted to clear up the mess it would have
made. So can we see metal detectors being erected
outside the pub soon? Anybody with replacement hips
will need to watch out! Not many of the elderly in the
village have metal piercings, that we know about
anyway, so we're probably safe on that one. |
| Dateline:
12 February 2008 |
| The latest
Police bulletin is now up. Click
here to read it. It may be relevant to you. |
| Dateline:
8 February 2008 |
| Te following
piece of news has just come to the webmaster's
attention, thanks to another villager who sent it in
(and it wasn't Keith!):
Keith Smibert ran for charity in the annual Empire State Building Run-up yesterday
(that's the 5th Feb) & was placed 123 out of 215 entrants.
Click
here for the official web site.
It has to be said that the webmaster is very
impressed. The closest he comes to running is not
describable on a family website like this. But let's
just say that he doesn't go there. Well done Keith! |
| Dateline:
7 February 2008 |
| A much-loved
member of the village has died. Alfie, who has been
seen almost every day with his 'parents', David and
Edwina, is no longer with us. Alfie, known
(affectionately) by some as the 'robot dog' has gone
to join the kennels in the sky. We wish him well. |
| Dateline:
5 February 2008 |
Received
from the Chairwoman of the WI:
Please pass this onto any WI member you meet especially our members not on
the internet, thank you.
Please note the change of date for the Chilton Foliat WI AGM.
It will now be on WEDNESDAY 13th of February at 7.30pm and NOT Thursday 14th
as in the program.
Apologies for the change and I hope to see you all there |
| Dateline:
2 February 2008 |
| The web
stats for January are now available. An average of 154
people a day visited this site through the month.
That's the highest monthly average since August last
year. |
| Dateline:
2 February 2008 |
| The police
closed off the Littlecote road for several hours
today. Apparently there was a collision just by the
Littlecote House between a cyclist and a lorry.
Passers by said that someone was injured. We hope not
badly. |
| Dateline:
28 January 2008 |
| We are sorry
to announce the passing away of Margaret Priest, who
had been ill for some time. She leaves her daughter,
Gill Goodfield, and grandson, Claud, both of whom live
in the village. Her funeral is today at the village
Church at 2pm. Our condolences go to the family. |
| Dateline:
24 January 2008 |
| Since the
webmaster's plea for more jokes recently, one villager
has taken him up on his challenge and a very non-PC
collection. Click
here to see them. |
| Dateline:
24 January 2008 |
| We get
the strangest of requests on this web site. Here's one
received from a web visitor:
I wonder if you could spare five minutes to nominate the best pub in Chilton Foliat as West Berks CAMRA's 'Community Pub of the Year'. All you have to do is follow the link below and fill in the form. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A MEMBER OF CAMRA TO DO THIS!
http://www.westberkscamra.org.uk/commpoty.htm |
| Dateline:
22 January 2008 |
| The
webmaster, during his many idle hours, has just
stumbled on an item on Ebay,
which is very relevant to this village, especially to
the chicken-lovers. Click
here to read all about it. If you're into
chickens, you won't regret it! Check out what the
lovely Victoria Roberts has to say about keeping
chickens at home! |
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|
| Dateline:
21 January 2008 |
| The latest
news has come in from the Neighbourhood Watch. Click
here to read it. It could affect you! This edition
is the best yet. It contains pictures of ferocious
dogs, as well as your local coppers. Which is the more
scary? Up to you to decide! Here's a tip from it. It
advises you not to leave your car keys readily
accessible to burglars. The webmaster has personal
experience of this, and will endorse it, since a few
years ago, he went to bed (OK, he's been to bed more
often than that!), leaving his car keys by the front
door. In the morning, his new (-ish) car and laptop
had been nicked. Not a good feeling. And then there's
a great headline, "Using plants to deter
thieves". We can imagine the entire populace of
the villager standing outside their houses waving some
pretty potted plants at the thieves! But
seriously, this has some really good tips in it. Go
ahead and read it. |
| Dateline:
20 January 2008 |
| The dress
rehearsal for the village Panto, Dick
Whittington, took place today. Click here
to see
some informal pictures. |
| Dateline:
16 January 2008 |
| The minutes
for the latest Parish Council meeting are now up on
this website. Click here
to read them. |
| Dateline:
16 January 2008 |
| Received
from a villager:
Regarding the recent explosion of chickens in the village, I was wondering if any 'chicken-keeping-villagers' are rearing any chickens which produce range eggs.
I was in Hungerford last week and went into the cafe for 'double free range-eggs and chips' and was charged 65pence each.
I'm thinking about calling the trading standards authority as this must surely be classed as mis-selling. |
| Dateline:
16 January 2008 |
| The pantomime
tickets have comedown in price. All tickets are now
only £5. It should be emphasised that this is not
because of lack of interest. It simply speeds up the
unenviable task of administering it. Ring Yvonne
on 01488 682067 if you lke to buy some. |
| Dateline:
15 January 2008 |
Received
from the Chairman the Parish Council:
Re your story about chickens (dateline 1 January - see
below), I've spotted a small flaw in your otherwise fine suggestion. We currently have too few roundabouts to implement the scheme (although I suppose we could convert the large hole in the road outside the pub if needs be).
You might want to step back from your chicken thought and maybe start a competition to decide where the Great Chicken Foliat Roundabout should be sited.
As Chairman of the Parish Council, I stand ready to judge this competition if necessary. |
 |
|
| Dateline:
15 January 2008 |
Received
from a villager who thinks you should be aware that the presence of a large white box van in similar circumstances in your area may be worthy of a second glance.
He's got a good point.
At around 13.00pm on Thursday 10th January a caller reported a suspicious large white box van and two males outside a house on Sanham
Green, Hungerford. The males were witnessed ringing the bell of the large metal security gate to the premises. When they got no reply they got out of the van and started pushing the gate. The witness shouted at them and they drove off towards the Salisbury Road. The males were described as white, aged in their late 20's or early 30's. One was around 5ft 7'' of medium to heavy build, the other was approximately 5ft 11'' and of skinny build. Both were wearing blue jeans and blue/green tops.
If anyone witnessed this event or has any information please contact the Police on 0845 8 505 505 quoting the URN reference number 637 and the date of 10.01.08. |
| Dateline:
14 January 2008 |
| Check out
the Jokes
page, for a new one in extremely poor taste. Speaking
of that page, it does not have enough contributors.
There are a small number of regulars (you know who you
are!), but it would be good to have some more jokes So
send them in,
and don't worry if you think they are in bad taste.
Your webmaster is used to editing just about
anything! |
| Dateline:
14 January 2008 |
| The village
panto (Dick Whittington) is almost on us. Click
here to read all about it and find out where to get
tickets. |
| Dateline:
4 January 2008 |
| Avid
followers of the web site will remember that on 17th
December, this column announced that a large house
in the centre of the village was coming up for sale.
There was some speculation in the village as to which
one it was. The secret's now out of the bag, and it
can be revealed that it is the house next to the pub.
Anyone can see this for themselves, as there is a Henry
George 'For Sale' sign on it now. If you haven't
noticed the sign yet, click
here to see which house it is. In fairness to
readers of this column, it should be pointed out that
the webmaster knows the inhabitants of this house
quite well. But then again, he has also known the
owners of all the other houses for sale that have been
mentioned in this column over the years. Although,
perhaps not quite as well. |
| Dateline:
4 January 2008 |
| The village
now has a large hole in the road outside the pub. As
it goes nearly halfway across the road, it should
prove to be an effective traffic-calming device. |
| Dateline:
4 January 2008 |
| There was a
gas leak from the front of the pub at about 00:00am
(midnight) this morning/last night. Nobody was killed
(at the time of writing) but it caused disruption in
the centre of the village. Not that there was any
traffic at that time. |
| Dateline:
2 January 2008 |
| The pictures
from New Year's Eve fancy dress evening in the pub are
now available. Click
here to see them. |
| Dateline:
1 January 2008 |
| There
has been much debate in the village as to
whether to re-name the village Chicken Foliat in
honour of the ever-increasing numbers of
chicken-keepers amongst the residents. Well,
it's still possible, but as you will see from
the picture alongside, Dorking has already
installed an 8 foot high (at least) steel chicken on one of
its roundabouts. Perhaps this should be
suggested in the Parish
Council meeting on 8th January! |
 |
|
| Dateline:
1 January 2008 |
| The agenda
for the forthcoming Parish Council meeting on the 8th
January is now up on this site. Click
here to read it. |
| Dateline:
1 January 2008 |
|
Happy New Year to all
visitors to this web site. Watch this space to see the
pictures from last night's fancy dress evening at the
pub. And click here
to read the new review of 2007 in the village.
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|
Is there really
a Fairyland in Chilton Foliat? Click
here.
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