The Upton oil syndicate has been open to other villages for a number of years and seems to be ‘spreading its wings’ as I receive requests to join from new locations.

Now with a membership of over 300 people, it makes sense to continue with the syndicate – reducing the cost of heating for many local families.

As you may have found out by now, we have moved out of the village and now live closer to the boy’s schools in Pangbourne. My contact details are (preferably by e-mail) colin.batchelor@eggconnect.net or by telephone 0118 984 1126 (after 7.00pm).

If you haven’t got round to making contact but wish to join, just drop me a line and I can send you all the details.

The next order is scheduled for mid January. To be included, I need to have your orders by Saturday 10^th January at the latest.

Colin Batchelor

January marks the start of the second year of our Drop-in sessions and, providing our numbers stay up, I guess it will become a permanent feature of our Village life. I’m always open to suggestions as to what else we could offer during these sessions, so if there’s something you would like to see us doing, or if you have any good ideas, please don’t keep them to yourself. We’d love to hear them.

The next three sessions will be at the usual time of 10.30 – 12.00 noon on the following Thursday mornings: 8 January, 22 January, 5 February.

If you need transport to the Village Hall please give me a ring. We may be able to help – especially if you could let me know the day before.

We look forward to seeing you.

Yvonne Collins 01235 850989

A total of £425 has been contributed to Tony’s memorial fund. This reflects both the respect and affection with which Tony was regarded.

Jessie proposes to use this money to fulfill Tony’s ambition to replace the existing sanctuary lamp in St Mary’s with something more worthy. The new lamp has been selected but will need approval from the diocese before it is purchased and installed.

Dates for your diary

Our last Drop-in session before Christmas will be on Thursday, 11 December at the usual time of 10.30. After the Christmas break our next session will be on the 8 January.

If anyone has a mobility problem please give me a ring. We may be able to help – especially if you could let me know the day before.

We look forward to seeing you.

Yvonne Collins 01235 850989

Thank you once again for your generous donations to this annual appeal, £327 was raised.

Each year the total increases and for a small village it is an amazing amount.

Many thanks to all the collectors for their time.

Helen Weston.

The most enjoyable entertainment for many a day took place on 25 October to raise funds for the Village Hall Extension. Peter Gardiner, and other literary villagers, performed an evening of poetry dedicated to Memorable Meals. As the title implies, this was no coffee-and-biscuits evening: Jessie West insisted that the performance should chime with a slap-up supper, with the readings interspersed between courses.
She produced — in her inimitable way — a delicious three-course menu for 50 people: olives, piquant peppers and breaded mushrooms for hors d’oeuvre; Ox tongue, Ham, Salami Sausage, Chicken Elizabeth, Caesar salad, French beans and hot Rosemary potatoes as Main course, and Heavenly pumpkin pie with cream (made by Maggie Maytham) for Dessert.
Peter kicked off with an Invitation to Supper by Ben Jonson, adapted to include pumpkin pie. Charmian Whitmell read Virginia Woolf’s Sole and Partridge, then became the Dormouse in Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter’s Tea Party with Geoff Summers and Hilary and Simon Powell.
Geoff read a puke-making Jerome K. Jerome sketch on the contents of an Irish Stew (Alfresco). Later with alarming gusto he performed a prose item called Rat, from Dan Mannix’ Memoirs of a Sword Swallower. With tremendous verve Malcolm Wright read Lawrence Durrell’s story about an ambassador who swallowed a moth at an Embassy Dinner. Hilary Powell — in ankle-length velvet overcoat and feather boa — read Hilaire Belloc’s Little Bits of String.
Then Geoff narrated Damon Runyon’s short story about a piece of Pumpkin Pie and Peter performed a rousing finale with Louis Simpson’s Chocolates — accompanied by a box of Thornton’s mints.
Sarah Tenant-Flowers provided background music, including The Vegetables by the Beach Boys, in which they scrunched carrots and Cab Calloway’s Everybody Eats When They Come to My House. Carol Hall hung a set of school pictures on The Art of Dining around the walls. £477 was made through the sale of tickets and a Raffle, run by Celia Summers.
C.H.

There will be a public meeting on Monday 3rd November at 7.30 in the Village Hall to discuss the planning application to build a house next to the Station House in Beeching Close with an access road that drops down from Station Road.

On Monday the committee that makes the final decision on whether planning applications should be accepted or not voted 8-7 in favour of constructing just the access and then deciding whether it would be able to carry the construction traffic before making a decision on whether the house can be built.

To create this access 5 trees will have to be cut down which will adversely affect the attractive tree canopy over Station Road as you enter and leave the village, as well as involving considerable work on the roadside verge and the road itself.

We want to hear your views. If you can’t get to the meeting and have an opinion you want to express, please send me an email to the Parish Council at council@uptonvillage.co.uk.

You may find the following PDF documents relating to the application on the Vale Planning site informative:

• Design & Access Statement
• Site location plan
• Arboriculturalist report
• Proposed site plan
• Proposed site layout

Strong young person required asap to help sweep and pile up leaves and long grass.

Please ring Caroline Maunsell on 01235 850601.

Can anyone help regarding a large bunch of keys lost between the embankment and Fieldside late yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 22nd October).

It is possibly they have been accidentally dropped in some long grass on the way home to Upton.

If you are out along this way walking please could you keep an eye out for this chunky bunch of keys and I can then return them to their owner.

Celia Davies 850684