At last the screed in the new meeting room and store has dried out sufficiently to allow the floor covering to be laid. Thanks are due to Keith Eighteen and Sherfield Flooring Ltd for generously providing and laying the carpet in the meeting room free of charge.

Because of the increased capacity of the hall the Trust needs to incur expenditure on a number of further items. These include extension of the car park; extension of the ladies lavatory to provide a second cubicle; and the purchase of additional tables and storage racking.

Funds raised this year will go a long way to meeting these additional costs, these include the proceeds of two events in the last few weeks.

Our thanks to Hilary Powell and her team of helpers who organised a very successful barn dance in the garden of Prospect House on the 10th of July. This yielded an amazing £1343.

On August 15^th 72 people met at the hall for a lunch of Pimms (and soft drinks), Pate and Pudding. Thanks are due to Celia Davies, her team of helpers and all those who helped provide such a wide and inviting spread. This yielded £633. This event was so enjoyable that Celia was pressed afterwards to arrange a similar event next year! By then it will have become a village tradition!

Brian Simpson

Jo and I would like to say thank you for the  kind wishes and support that the people of Upton have shown towards us since our taking over the George and Dragon. We have made some changes and plan to make a few more along the way. One of the changes that we have made is to the fence in the pub garden. I am sure you will all agree that this was well overdue. A new wooden fence with a secure gate was installed last week to divide the Garden area from the Aunt Sally area, as well as to prevent small children from running around in the car park.

Another change you would have noticed is that the pool table has been re located to the patio area outside. The old pool room has been re fitted to allocate more dining tables in order to use as an overflow as and when required. This room will also be available for small private parties.

The 27th July is Jo’s birthday, we will be have a birthday party for her at the pub, a full Pilipino buffet will be provided, so feel free to come along and celebrate with us.

On the 30th of August (Bank Holiday Monday)  Pig Roast all day as well as our full menu will be available there will also be live music from 4 pm

Wednesday Mid-week Roast

Roast Dinner and a Dessert £10.00 - Bookings Available

See you at the Pub

Kenny and Jo

Pimms, Pates and Puddings on Sunday 15th August at 12.30 at the Village Hall on the new patio

Advance tickets - £10.00 Adult,  £5.00 5-15s and Under 5s free

On the Day - Adult £12.00, Child £6.00

On sale from 1st July from

Celia Davies 850684, Maggie Mayham 850126

Clare Lightfoot 850486, Jessie West 851206

Book your table now, ticket includes the first glass of Pimms, soft drinks also available.

All proceeds to UVHAT

As mentioned in a previous newsletter, the travelling theatre that has brought so many lively performances to our village hall, has lost a considerable subsidy from the Vale. It costs the company £1,200 to take their show to each of the venues they visit. The cost to us has been £314. As you can imagine, they are looking at other ways to "keep the show on the road" 

UVHAT have agreed to accept the next family show "Alice in Wonderland" for November. The cost to us will be £600. We hope ticket sales £8 for adults £6 for children plus sale of refreshments will generate sufficient to cover the cost. We certainly have the potential to do so with the extended hall, and still enjoy the more comfort in seating that the extra space has given us. However for this one show UVHAT is prepared to subsidize it if necessary.

So we look forward to your continued support, and welcome anyone coming for the first time, for a thoroughly enjoyable inexpensive evening out.

Meanwhile you are invited to a meeting at the village hall, Monday June 14^th at 7.30pm to share ideas on how to proceed for hosting future shows.

Jessie West

Joan Durbin is very kindly donating some of her framed paintings for sale with all, or half of the proceeds going towards the work still to be done on improving the Village Hall. 10 paintings will be available where all the proceeds are for the hall and a further 10 where half the proceeds will go to the hall.

The paintings will be available for viewing at Joan’s house on Sat. 26th June  & Sun. 27th. 2pm to 6pm. Anyone wishing to view/buy beforehand can view from Friday 19th June until 30th June by telephone appointment Tel. 01235 850035.

Our thanks to Joan for this very generous gesture – Mike Brown

We would like to say a big hello to everyone in Upton Village and to say how welcome we have been made to feel in settling in at the pub. Since taking over the pub we have had the pleasure of meeting new friends as well as catching up with old friends as well.

Although we have made some changes to the pub we hope that they are to the liking of the village residents. One of our major changes has been to our opening hours and menu. We are now open every day of the week from noon till 11pm serving food until 9pm. Our menu consists of traditional home cooked pub food, which is freshly prepared by our resident chef.

We are now making plans to organise a pub football team to play on Sunday’s our team will be called "The Gorge and Dragon", we are hoping to grow the team over the coming months in order for the start of the 2010/11 season. We already have commitment from Ian Concannon who you might already know from Upton. Ian was a former player for Oxford United and Didcot Town. We are also hoping to have Bobby Wilson joining us. Bobby played for Didcot Town and was the Manager for Milton United team.

Bobby has now moved to Hungerford as their new 1st team manager and we would like to send him our best wishes for the next season.

Beer Festival   June 18th/19th/20th

We will be holding a beer festival on June the 18th/ 19th and 20th.  Local group Triple A will be performing live on the 19th. We will also be having a BBQ on Saturday and Sunday.

Come and enjoy the fun.

We look forward to seeing you

The George and Dragon Team 

So, we have had to say farewell to Ceilo and Bill for the second time, and it will be sad to see them leave, together with their children Gavin and Laura.

Their hard work turned the George around and made it once again a most pleasant place to visit, knowing you would always be made most welcome. They, together with their bar staff and those in the kitchen have made the pub such a happy place to spend time in, and they all will be most sadly missed.

We shall also miss Bill’s culinary skills, especially his Thai curries and specials; he leaves a standard which will be hard to follow.

We therefore wish them all a most successful future in whatever they turn their hands to and hope they will return to visit Upton from time to time.

However, we must now welcome the new tenants and hope they have an enjoyable and well supported residence at the George & Dragon.

Brian Arnold

April 23 St. George Day:

The annual St. George’s Day celebration featuring 18th century music and dance by The Vale Islanders and The Old Speckled Hen Mixed Morris will carry on as normal. We are proud to have started this tradition and long may it continue after we’re gone. Festivities will commence at 8pm.

Bill and Cielo

Since our last news, things have progressed at an extremely rapid pace. A family, local to the area, has applied for and has been selected to take over the pub’s tenancy. Papers that will formalize the deal are being drawn up as we speak. As this will definitely be the last of our updates, I will take advantage of the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us from the beginning. You did your best and so did we but even after all our combined efforts, in the end, the strong current of the changing times are simply too strong for us. At the moment, nothing is definite about our future but it’s not bleak either. There are jobs in the pipeline and one of them might even be a pub management position for Bill! We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Our date of leaving is on the 15^th of April and we refuse to go quietly in the night! You are all invited to our leaving do, aptly entitled, The Last Hurrah Party on the 9^th of April from 9pm. Our favourite band, “Mew Wooster and Boon” will provide the Live Music on the night.

On our last week, opening and restaurant hours will slightly vary. Please take note of the following dates:

April 12 Monday: Closed

April 13 Tuesday: Regular hours and last day we will be doing food.

April 14 Wednesday: Closed at lunchtime. Open from 6pm for drinks only.

April 15 Thursday: Change-over day.

April 23 St. George Day: We have arranged for the usual celebrations to happen but couldn’t get the confirmation in time for publication. The incoming landlord has been informed about this and so I will leave it up to him to finalize the arrangements.

Again, thank you for all your support. It was good while it lasted. You will be missed. Godspeed Upton.

"Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened." - Dr Seuss

The Oxfordshire Theatre Company is coming to Upton Village Hall again on Saturday March 27th at 7.30 pm

^{Ticket price £8 and £6 from Jessie on 851206}

Loving April

Adapted by Giles Croft from the novel by Melvin Burgess

A moving story of love and intolerance

The touring theatre has been coming to our village hall for many years. Audiences have enjoyed, and appreciated the level of expertise, colour and exuberance they have brought with them.

The cost to our venue is £314 and the only reason they have been able to sustain this price is because of the subsidy they have received. Unfortunately, a large percentage of that subsidy is to be withdrawn. Sadly, this may be their last tour.