Friends of St. Marys will be holding a skittles evening in the Village Hall on Saturday 22nd February, be there at 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start. This Fun Evening is open to all and includes a Fish and Chip Supper (Chicken alternative on request) and of course some scrumptious puds to finish .Tea and coffee will be provided, and you are welcome to bring your own drinks too. Brighten up a winter evening with friends and neighbours.

There will be prizes for the highest score in female and gents and under 16 categories.

Tickets priced £10 available  from  Paul 851251, Jessie 851206,  Gloria 850683, Celia  850684. Please let us know you’re coming in advance as the food order has to go in a week before.

Oh and there is sure to be a Raffle, donations for which would be much appreciated.

Jessie West

The Friends of St Mary’s annual Carols and Readings will be held in St Mary’s at 4.00 pm on Saturday 14th  December. This is always a very popular event; walking in the dusk up the lantern-lit path into a cosy and welcoming church always seems like the real start to the real start of the Christmas season, helped by the mulled wind and mince pies which will be served afterwards!

All are welcome, whether or not you’re a signed-up Friend of St Mary’s. We would love to see a great turn-out of Uptonians on the 14th to welcome the start of Christmas 2019.

The Good Friday walk, which has proved popular over the past five or so years, will take place again on Friday
(naturally!) 19th April. We will start at 2.00pm from the church and aim to
get back there by about 4.00 for some hot cross buns and tea.
Last year a goodly number of Uptonians braved the wind and rain and had a
splendid time, defying everything nature could throw at us. This year, things
can only get better!
If you could let Paul (851251) or Jessie (851206) know you’re planning to
come along that will allow us to calculate roughly how many hot cross buns
to buy. But if you’re not sure, just turn up anyway – we have never run out
yet!
Paul Batho

Christmas Carols Carols, festive tales, mince pies, mulled wine….just in case you had missed it, the Christmas season is, by popular request, back for the 2018th time! And there’s no better way to get into the Christmassy mood than by coming along to the Upton Carols and Readings event in St Mary’s on Saturday, 15th December at 4.00pm. All the above, plus excellent company, will be there and we look forward to seeing as many Uptonians as possible to start the Christmas celebrations in style. The event is organised by the Friends of St Mary’s and there is no charge – just come along and enjoy the atmosphere, the carols, readings (for old and young) and refreshments.

Happy Christmas all! Paul Batho

At 11.00 am on Monday, 11^th November 1918 the guns fell silent on the Western Front and around the globe for the first time in more than four years, marking the end of what became known as the Great War. At least 10 million people were killed including more than one million in the British Army. Few communities were spared: Upton lost 12 of its young men, half of them from just two families.

We will be marking the centenary of the Armistice in St Mary’s Church on Saturday 10^th November starting at 7.30pm in an event which will also include a fascinating presentation on the history of the church itself. The programme will be:

1. Readings of poetry and prose commemorating the Great War
2. Stories and history behind the men on Upton’s war memorial
3. Interval and refreshments
4. A short history of St Mary’s, presented by Fr Jason St John Nicolle

All Uptonians will be most welcome to attend. There will be no entry charge, just voluntary contributions to the cost of refreshments. The evening will conclude at about 9.00pm

Just so we have an idea of numbers for catering purposes it would be helpful if you could let Jessie (851206 – jessie@blueshapes.com) or Paul (851251 – pjsbatho@btinternet.com) know if you plan to attend.

The annual Good Friday walk will be held this year on 30 March starting at St Mary’s church at 2.00pm. The route will be 5/6 miles in total and will perambulate gently over the downs before returning to the church where walkers will be rewarded with tea and hot cross buns.

It’s being organised by the Friends of St Mary’s but the walk is open to all, and there’s no charge. Just come along and enjoy yourselves in the fresh air.

It’s not essential but if you could let Paul Batho know in advance (pjsbatho@btinternet.com or 851251) we can get a rough idea of the number of buns required!

Following the success of last year, the Friends of St Mary’s are planning another walk for Good Friday afternoon. The first time we organised this, we arranged a circular walk via Blewbury and Hagbourne, then last year we trekked across the downs from East Ilsley, in fabulous weather, on both occasions finishing at the church for tea and cakes.

This year, the idea is to start at the top of Kingstanding Hill on the A417 between Aston Tirrold and Streatley which will offer two alternative routes back to Upton. The ‘low road’ will skirt Lollingdon Hill and drop down into Aston Tirrold, continuing on via Blewbury to Upton – this is about 4.75 miles, the same distance as the walk from East Ilsley last year. For the more energetic, the ‘High Road’ goes up into the downs along the Fair Mile as far as the Ridgeway then runs gently back down to Upton via Saltbox – about 6.5 miles in total. As usual, tea and cakes will greet the weary walkers in the church.

We’ll aim to start about 2.00 and reach the finish at 4.00 – 4.30. At the end there will be transport arranged back to the cars left at the start.

It would be great to see a good number of Uptonians out and about on Good Friday – everyone’s welcome, children, dogs and all! If you have any questions at this stage please call Paul Batho on 851251 – more details will be published in next month’s Upton News.

Paul Batho