The Act of Remembrance will take place at the War Memorial tomorrow at 12 noon as usual.

For those new to the village, this is because our vicar has to take a service in each of the four parishes in the benefice on this day. 

Details of services are always displayed in the church porch, at the entrance to the churchyard and in the box in front of the Reading Room, as well as in the Parish Newsletter.  

A new service sheet, detailing services over the Christmas period and up to the end of February, is now available in the church and in the usual places.  Please go in an collect one.

Pat Cook, Churchwarden
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Renovation work in the churchyard
 
From the 4th November, for about 5 weeks, a contractor from the Vale will be repairing the collapsed wall between the churchyard and the Gould's garden.  There will be a 'welfare unit' positioned in the church car park which will drastically reduce the space.  They have promised to leave room for anyone to turn in Biddy and John's gateway.  
 
The churchyard is going to look a mess whilst the works are going on, but it is only for a small period of time.  The Vale have promised that all will be cleared and tidied and left in decent order at the end of the works. The stake and rail fence will also be permanently removed once the works have completed, so I'm afraid all jokes about tethering horses will no longer apply!!  It will be so good to get the work done at last - it has taken more than 5 years!

On behalf of Brenda Haskins @ 5 The laurels . 
 
She has one very large Halloween Pumpkin for anyone, who wishes to collect it from her front lawn .
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Residents who are subscribed to the district council brown bin garden waste service in South Oxfordshire or the Vale of White Horse can have extra garden waste collected for free, on their normal collection day only, between 28 October and 8 November.

You can put out a maximum of up to four additional sacks of garden waste, per brown bin subscription, next to your brown bin. 

To be eligible for collection – the extra waste must contain only natural garden waste, such as cut grass, plants or branches and be placed in standard sized (60L) black refuse-style sacks or in boxes / containers totalling no more than a standard bin full.

Please DO NOT use tonne builders’ waste bags – our crews will not collect any garden waste from these.

All the garden waste collected will be taken to a facility near Wallingford where it is composted.  The compost will then be sold on to local farmers for use on their farmland.

More information about garden waste collections can be found at southoxon.gov.uk/gardenwaste or the whitehorsedc.gov.uk/gardenwaste.
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Hello - Sarah here from Olde Willows.

I’m thinking of setting up a regular adult art group (age 16+) for amateur artists in the Reading Room, possibly on a Wednesday evening (7-9pm?) and wanted to put a few feelers out to see what kind of interest there is from the village (if any!).

The idea is to create a space to share making art together on a weekly basis, probably during term time only initially. The sessions would be untutored although I’m happy to provide a few warm up exercises at the beginning of each session if people would like. The idea being to create a space to bring along whatever art you’re working on right now and get inspiration from others while you do so - it will all be very relaxed, with plenty of time for chatting too! I will provide some paper and paints initially, costs for each session would likely be around £6 per person to cover the cost of venue hire, buy a few basic supplies and if it’s of interest, maybe even get a guest artist in for some tutorials/inspiration from time to time. All abilities and levels would be welcome. What do you think?
 
If you’re interested in attending, please email me at: [email protected] or text/call on 07748 963177 in the first instance. Once I know if there’s sufficient uptake, I can firm up dates, timings, costs etc.
 
Many thanks!
Sarah
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Just a few tables left for Faringdon Writers next Book Fair on 23rd Nov. in the Corn Exchange Faringdon This event gains in popularity each year. So if you have published/self-published work you would like to make available/share with a wider audience then please get in touch as soon as possible.

Email [email protected] for further information.
Tables are £12 each.
No commission taken.

I currently have six nice new wooden pallets stacked outside Stonevale (from the roofing work) and the roofers do not want them, so they are free to a good home.  Perfect for making planters or compost bins.  Also any batten offcuts etc in the skip are up for grabs.  Hopefully the work is ok?  If anyone is inconvenienced or otherwise bothered by the roofers, please let me know – they have asked for feedback as this is important to them.

Thanks,
Russ Payne
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Harold Peter Turner, passed peacefully at home on the 10th August 2024, aged 89 years. He will be greatly missed by Betty, Geoff and all his family and friends.

Funeral service to take place at South Oxfordshire Crematorium, Garford on Wednesday 4th September 2024 at 11:00am. Family flowers only please but donations if desired to The Fire Fighters Charity.

Donations can be made online via haroldpeterturner.muchloved.com or c/o J Godfrey & Son Funeral Services, 20 Gloucester Street, Faringdon, SN7 7HY.

Great Barn Festival is back 13th -15th of September this year. By now you should have had a flyer through your door with details on village festival discounts as well as advice on getting tickets for Sunday evening at the barn which will be free to villagers from 5.30pm. Please get in touch at [email protected] or call me, Ainslie, on 07774 459046 and I can help arrange tickets or answer questions. 
 
Stonevale Concerts will be in the evening on Saturday the 14th in St Giles, a return of piano for four hands with Aleksei Demchenko and Lynette Stulting following their sell out concert earlier in the year. There will also be a classical guitar recital with Fernando Aguera on Sunday morning in support of the church roof fund. Other villagers will feature in bands on both Saturday and Sunday. Come along and cheer them on, see who you can spot! 
 
If you would like to get involved there are always things to lend a hand with (rewards given in the bar) or if you would like to perform, exhibit or sell at the event it’s never too late!
 
With around 200 performers, that’s over 30 individual musical acts, three stage plays, storytellers, Punch and Judy, a Flea Circus, craft, nature and science activities, workshops and even a medieval village we hope we have something to get everyone involved.
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