The total amount raised by the fete this year was £2900.  This was significantly higher than in previous years and the PCC has resolved to donate £300 to the village hall extension fund.

On Saturday 12 September the Fletcher family, aged five to “no longer counting”,  cycled around our local villages visiting as many local churches as we can, in order to raise money for our small ancient church – opposite our house in Upton – and the Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust. We cycled 21 miles in total in a figure of eight – coming back to Upton for lunch – and visited  the churches in Upton, Chilton, Harwell, Didcot in the morning, and then Blewbury,  Aston Tirrold, Aston Upthorpe, South Moreton, and East Hagbourne in the afternoon. The route was a mix of download tracks, minor roads and very grassy bridleways across the fields between the villages. We were very grateful for the generous sponsorship from the village and Kathryn’s colleagues, and raised about £250 (including GiftAid) in total. Thank you all our sponsors.

Pictures of the route we cycled  and of each of the 16 churches we visited can be seen on:  http://www.sine-nomine.co.uk/album/index.html

Village Hall Drop-in Sessions

As you all know, the Village Hall is now closed so as to allow work to proceed on the new extension. However, we have very generously been offered the use of the Methodist Hall for the next few months, so please come along and join us there on:

29 October – 12 November – 26 November

10.30 until 12.00 noon

Yvonne Collins

01235 850989

Upton and Blewbury Methodist Churches

A New Beginning in the New Year?

There is going to be a big change for Upton and Blewbury Methodist Churches from January 1st. We are combining to become one church. Although plenty of people come to the churches for community events during the week, numbers have fallen at Sunday Services, so we agreed at the recent joint Church Council Meeting to start the process of becoming one church. This will be known as the Spring Line Methodist Church. It will have two places of worship, the Blewbury Centre and the Upton Centre, and services will alternate between the two centres.

Why Spring Line? Well, we wanted a name that would express where the two villages are, and how they are joined historically. The two villages evolved where they are because they are sited on the Spring Line, the line where the chalk of the Downs meets the sticky clays of the Thames Valley, the line where springs emerge from the ground. Some of the Blewbury springs emerge on the South edge of the Cleve, so Blewbury Church actually stands on a Spring Line. And Upton Methodist Church is close to the springs that rise in Stream Road.

January 1st is the official date for the new Church to come to life, and our minister Helen White will be writing more about it in the January edition of the Upton News, but do think of us and remember us in your prayers as we prepare for this new venture together.

Jo Lakeland (for Blewbury and Upton Methodist Churches)

Are you an accomplished musician? Can you sing or harmonise?

Do you spend most of your time playing or practicing on your own?

Ever wished to hear what your playing would sound like in a group? Then read on.

I would like to start an acoustic/folk group in Upton. The direction it takes would depend upon what players and instruments become available. There is no age requirement only an interest in contemporary/traditional folk sounds.

So if you can play any of the instruments listed or sing you may well like to give it a try.

Guitar

Mandolin

Flute/whistle

Accordion

Bodhran

Violin/fiddle

Any other instrument you think would ‘fit in’

Please drop me a line at

ronyart5@hotmail.com

or telephone any evening on 01235 850032 and ask for Rob

Many thanks

Rob Traynor

It is underway!!!!!! After so many months/years of hoping, during which we have been through so many highs and lows, we have finally achieved sufficient funding to award a contract for the extension to be built. We are still looking to raise more funding to pay for a patio and to extend the car park.

We are greatly indebted to the persistence and enthusiasm shown by Brian Simpson and Jessie West who have put in hours and hours of work meeting with and talking to so many possible sources of funding as well as filling in application forms and the countless support documentation that has to go with each application. It has been a big mountain for the village to climb and I know that so many of you have contributed in so many ways, it has been the enthusiasm that has come from so many parishioners that has kept Brian, Jessie and the rest of us going at times when we thought the idea could become just a fading dream.

Two contracts have been issued to ABS Ltd, one from the Parish Council who are responsible for spending all the money received from grants and one from UVHAT for the balance of the total cost.

As you can see the builders are already busy on site with a target completion date of the end of February.

Mike Brown

Village Hall Drop-in Sessions

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Drop-in. It would be nice to see a few new faces.

The next two sessions will be held on:

1 October – 15 October      10.30 until 12.00 noon in the Village Hall

After the 15th October the Hall is very unlikely to be available, the venue for the meeting on the 29th and future meetings until the hall is back in use will be decided later.

Yvonne Collins 01235 850989

We were so lucky to have picked a fine day for the fete.  More visitors than ever came through the gate this year and I’m sure the dog agility demonstration given by the Wallingford Dog Training Club was a big attraction.  Of course the Fun Dog Show and the Wacky Races were also very entertaining and a great crowd puller. Well done to all the stallholders and to the raffle ticket sellers who all excelled themselves.  The winner of the Hot Air Balloon Ride was Chris Davies. A full list of prize winners is available let me know if you would like a copy. The Chairman of the Vale wrote saying how much she had enjoyed the fete and said "I do believe Upton is the cake capital of the Vale".  

The receipts to date amount to £2,800 which is amazing, well done everyone for pulling out all the stops and making the afternoon a very special occasion.

Clare Lightfoot