Kym writes: “What can I say what a great turn out tonight for the Sulgrave Advent window Number 5 at The Star. Steve’s mulled wine a hit as always, wonderful nibbles. well almost a meal. And the window well GREAT. Well over 60 turned out. Thank you all”.
Photographs by Graham Roberts.
See more on next page.
Kym writes: “…..a wonderful turn out in the drizzle. Not as cold as the last couple of nights. But lovely window, loved what you did with the lights, just goes to show how to use what you have!!! thank you so much Joanna and Charles. Mulled wine and nibbles great. Look forward to seeing some of you again tomorrow which is at the Star.”
All photographs by Graham Roberts. See more on the next page:
Yet another very cold night but once again the large number of revellers were undeterred!
More pictures on next page.
The idea of a Christingle service came originally from the Moravian Church in 1747 as a symbol of Christ’s light and love. The Children’s Society introduced it to the Church of England in 1986, and it has since become a popular service for all ages. This was the thirty-fourth service in the Church of St James the Less in Sulgrave. All money collected goes to the good work of the Children’s Society with the least fortunate of today’s young people. See the next page for more photographs of the children with their oranges and lighted candles….
Friday December 1st proved to be the coldest day of the year so far, despite which over thirty people turned up for the unveiling of the first window of this year’s Advent Calendar Window displays. This was the 15th edition of what has now become a well established Sulgrave Christmas tradition. Excellent mulled wine, mince pies were enjoyed by all.
More photographs:
All photos by Tony Keatley
Telegraph pole decoration in Spinners Cottages 2016
As the village Christmas Decorations (wreaths or garlands as you prefer) are being resumed this year, I thought it would be interesting for newer villagers and nostalgic for older ones to revisit past endeavours by clicking on the following links:
Village Christmas Decorations 2007
Village Christmas Decorations 2008
Village Carol Singing and Decorations 2013
The very first Advent Calendar Window on December 1st 2014 at High Barn, Manor Road
Followers of the annual Sulgrave Advent Calendar Window tradition may recall that during last December my wife Molly was newly returned from hospital and I was unable to photograph the nightly decorated window unveiling events, which I had done for practically every one of them from 2014 to 2021. See here for my website post at that time.
Whilst Molly recovered from her lung cancer operation, her health has deteriorated in other ways during the year and once more my role as full time carer will not allow me the time to attend the various parties this year. However, last year, members of the Sulgrave Camera Club covered the events brilliantly and I was able to post photos of the windows and the revellers on the website, albeit sometimes a little after the event. I am given to understand that this will happen again from tomorrow (December 1st) onwards and I will be pleased to upload the results as soon as possible.
Those who wish to look back at the window decorations in previous years can do so as follows:
Go to the right hand side of the website front page (www.sulgrave.org) and scan down until you come to a sub heading “Archives”. Click on the panel and select whichever December you wish to view from 2014 onwards. This will take you to the website entries for that month, 24 of which will be of the window unveiling parties and the windows themselves. You will see the days in reverse order from 24th to 1st December, reflecting the order in which they were uploaded.
See here for the list of this year’s windows.
Colin Wootton (Editor, Sulgrave Village Website)
Have you filled in your Questionnaire?
Have you mislaid it?
Not to worry.
There is still time, so do complete your copy and drop it off at the Village Shop.
If you have mislaid your copy you will be pleased to hear we have now
produced an online version which is available at :-
https://qjjic41du.supersurvey.com
So please do complete the Survey so we can get an accurate picture of the demographic structure of the village, the activities and the views of its present population.
This will enable us to compare them to those of the original 1994 Questionnaire.
All the information gathered is impersonal and will remain strictly confidential. It will be presented in the form of charts and graphs as in the 1994 Survey. A copy of the original “Chronicles”, including the results of the 1994 Survey, can be seen on the bar of the Star Inn and also on the Village Website:-
(www.sulgrave.org) at “Village Appraisal and History”.
A reminder to those of you who are writing up the 21st Century history of the various groups, societies or indeed events, they are involved with to get their material to me, now with our extended deadline, by the end of the year. Thank you.
Martin Sirot-Smith. [email protected]
01295 710340
Hedge laying along the Banbury Road
Richard Fonge writes:
A very wet month with the ground extremely sodden for this time of year, but looking back we no longer have the dense fogs of the past due to our much improved cleaner air. We sometimes forget how far we have come in certain ways. This wet autumn (and our area has escaped the worst of the really heavy rain) has had a serious impact on some of the newly sown crops. Seed has rotted before germination and slugs have thrived in ideal conditions. These small type of slugs are voracious in appetite in that they are like a pair of scissors eating away at the small shoots. If a crop has failed now you have to wait to the spring before you can re plant.
Please take note of the high standard of hedge trimming, particularly on the left of the Magpie Road and on the right side of the Helmdon Road as you leave the village and further along towards Peter’s Bridge. These are well maintained hedges with plenty of depth and thickness. I mentioned this last year but the benefit of cutting a poor hedge to the ground and then letting it re grow can be seen along the Banbury Road to Weston.
November in the farming world is the month of dinners and AGMs of different agricultural organisations. There are many farming clubs and societies, some going back a long way, but many formed during the Second World War years to encourage farmers to grow better crops and hold competitions against similar clubs. The secretary was always a local Ministry advisor, who arranged talks and competitions. Today many of these organisations still exist, but the man from the ministry has long gone. In our neck of the woods we have The North Banbury Farming Club and Banbury Agricultural Society and I am still involved with the Kenilworth Agricultural Society. Each year a reciprocal arrangement is made with another club to judge their different classes of livestock and crops, with cups and certificates presented at annual dinners. It is always interesting and informative to visit and judge others and be judged yourselves. Plus, the social side is important.
Agriculture is an industry where ideas and developments are swapped between farmers, and as my old employer used to say “you always learn something “ on such occasions. Very true.
Richard Fonge
