New Playground Equipment

You may have noticed the transformation that has occurred on the Recreation Ground recently. The old slide and climbing frame have gone, and in their place is a splendid new piece of apparatus called a 'Multiplay'. This is Phase One of the refurbishment of the play area, and together with the new surfacing, has cost around £11,500.

The Recreation Ground Committee would like to thank both the Parish Council and the many people who have so generously contributed to the fund, enabling us to complete this part of the project so quickly.

Donations from people in the village so far total an amazing £3277, including proceeds from such diverse sources as the Czech weekend (an amazing £1994), dance classes, breakfasts, sale of books, food served on firework night, the Diwali party and various other contributions. The fete has raised £1843 for us over two years and the Parish Council took out a £10,000 loan. For those of you who can't add up, this makes a grand total of £15,120 raised since July 2004 - quite a stunning amount for such a small village! A huge thank you to you all!

You may have noticed, however, that I mentioned 'Phase One' in my first paragraph; this means there is a 'Phase Two' still to come, when we hope to complete the Play Area by adding an aerial runway and a basketball hoop for the older children and eventually some smaller equipment for very young children. We are currently in the process of applying for grants from AVDC, the Lottery, the Playing Fields Association and various others. We need to raise approximately another £10,000 to enable the project to be finished, hopefully with the majority of this coming from various grants, but your support will still continue to be appreciated for some time to come…… watch this space…..

~ Kate Curry and Jackie Farrands

A Monster Display

"That was a monster display…" was the comment I overheard as the final sparks fell to earth on November 5th.

As usual, the price of admission was on large firework. I arrived early and took my giant Roman Candle over to van where the display was being prepared. Immediately I felt inadequate as I saw the size of some of the fireworks being prepared - who says size doesn't matter? My attention was drawn to a large military style battery. "That's mine," said Major Tim proudly.

As I walked back to the viewing area I realised that Major Tim's pride was soon going to take a dent. A stream of people were arriving clutching large items that looked like dynamite stick clusters or bits broken off a scrapped Jedi Starfighter. Furnished with the incredible incendiary array, Lol Hinds and his team provided a spectacular 18 minutes of noisy mayhem.

The Gnomes provided hot food and drinks again this year. Cunningly they had managed to set up their stall directly windward of the enormous bonfire which was belching out clouds of smoke from a ton of damp garden refuse, ignited with several gallons of petrol. Despite the Gnomes frequently disappearing from view in the thick smoke they still managed to make around £150 toward the playground equipment, from sales of hot dogs, soup, jacket potatoes and mulled wine.

The full comment that I actually overheard was, "That was a monster display - for so few people". There were plenty of people present, but there did not seem to be quite as many as in previous years. However, I believe that was because it was a Saturday night and many people had other social engagements; some went to major organised displays with their friends. I hope the slight dip in attendance will be only temporary, because each year Lol and his guys work hard to produce a truly "monster display".

England Expects………

Not to be out done Aston Abbotts bell ringers celebrated Trafalgar day with a very special ringing of the bells on 21st October.

Devised by Tower Captain Peter Knight the bells were rung in a thrilling sequence to enact the Battle of Trafalgar.

'Rounds' indicated the fleet leaving harbour and moving towards Cadiz and then changing to 'Plain Hunt' to indicate the turmoil of battle. All the bells were 'fired' simultaneously 21 times to indicate the roar of the cannon, then one by one the bells stopped ringing to indicate battle over.

This was followed by a lone bell tolled 37 times to mark the death of Nelson. 37 times, one for each British ship in the battle.

Then back into 'Rounds to signify the fleet returning from battle and Britain 'Ruling the Waves'.

The crew of Matelots, Matolettes and Salts were Peter, Alex, Anita, Sally, Halesie, John and Kevin.

~ Neil Chesher

Our New Editor

Editor Phil Spooner is relived to report that a new editor has come forward.

"Phew! You guys had me worried for a while. I was beginning to think that the Chronicle might be left without an editor. However, I am most grateful to John Hardcastle for coming forward and volunteering to take over the reins of this, our parish magazine.

"I am delighted that John has decided to take on this job. You already know him as the compiler of our crossword. I am sure that he will bring some renewed vitality to the magazine. John lives on Lines Hill and his wife Judy is a regular at the Tuesday night Gnomes gathering. John will start with the January issue, so you lot will have to put up with me for one more issue - the December Chronicle - which will be my last. I also give my thanks to Rod Rotheroe of Nash's Farm for agreeing to have a go at compiling the crossword, also starting in January."

Phil also noted that another milestone was being clocked up by The Chronicle:

"250 Issues And Counting. It seems like only a few months ago that I presided over the 200th issue of the Chronicle. In that issue I reviewed the History Of The Chronicle. Now I am proud to see issue number 250 clocked up - another milestone and a testament to the efforts of all our contributors and those who work behind the scenes."

Cluck Cluck Cluck

It appears that chicken farm may well be heading for Aston Abbotts following a decision by Aylesbury Vale's planning committee to defer the decision to officers and the apparent support for the application from the committee.
Despite 100 letters of objection and over 70 people attending the hearing, which had to be moved to Aylesbury Civic Centre in order to accommodate the number of attendees, it rather looks like our fears for our home environment might be disregarded.

As one angry objector said of the planning committee, "They're a clucking waste of time". At least, I think that's what she said.

Newsflash

As from Thursday 6th October the Wingrave shop will give a shop service in the Church Room. 10.30 to 12.30 every Thursday. Please use it
There will be general grocery items - potatoes eggs etc.

Now that Bernard's shop has closed this will be the only opportunity for villagers to purchase their groceries without having to travel to another village or into town. However, the Wingrave shop will not continue with this service if it is not used - so please give it a try.

Just Two More Issues Of The Chronicle?

In his editorial Phil Spooner started to worry that nobody had volunteered to take over the Chronicle editorship.

Well, I didn't expect to be bowled over by the rush last month when I asked for a volunteer to take over editing the Chronicle! Therefore I was not particularly surprised at the lack of response, although, in truth, I was a little disappointed.
I must be blunt. By the end of the year my other commitments will prevent me from putting together the Chronicle each month. I am prepared to continue until the December issue, but I will not be able to do it after that. So it follows that if a new editor cannot be found the Chronicle will come to an end. Personally, I will be deeply saddened should the Aston Abbotts village magazine die after 22 years and 250 issues.

Therefore I appeal again for help from everybody in the search for a new editor. It may be that someone out there has considered whether or not they could do it, but he or she is nervous about putting their hand up without finding out more about it. So, if you know of anybody who might be interested please get him or her to contact me so we can have a chat about it. You won't get the hard sell from me - just a chat about what is involved.
I am sad to be giving up the editorship of the Chronicle, but I will be far sadder if it's publication ceases. So let me repeat:

I regret that if a new editor cannot be found the Chronicle will cease publication with the December issue

Fete raises over £3600

Mrs Angela Olley of The Abbey opened this year's fete as the weather gods smiled down upon us - yet again.

This year the fun had started an hour before the official opening, with the first Aston Abbotts Dog Show proving a big attraction, and many people queued for food and Pimms.

Many people enjoyed the earlier start and, after the opening speech by Mrs Olley, then turned to the traditional stalls. The Great Horwood Silver Band and Morris dancers provided entertainment, whilst many stalls found themselves selling out early in the afternoon.

The final total raised, after expenses, was in excess of £3600 - the highest amount ever raised. I congratulated fete organiser Mrs Poonam Gupta. Poonam expressed her delight at the final total, but said, "I really want to express my thanks to all of the people who worked so hard for this fantastic result, not just on the day but also in the weeks leading up to the event. And it was so much harder for many of the stall holders this year; the earlier start meant they had to set-up earlier and had to stay open longer. Thank you so much to everybody."

Once again, our congratulations to Poonam for doing such a wonderful job. Now, how are we going to beat that total next year??

The Aston Abbotts Dog Show

I was quite excited to be asked to judge the dog show at the fete and as far as I am aware it was the first dog show ever held on fete day. Very soon it dawned upon me that I was on rocky ground. I was bound to upset or offend someone, and how could I possibly make a choice from all those lovely dogs? Well I decided to concentrate solely on the dogs not the owners, and with some help from Lynne and Clare Connolly, the decisions were made.

Badger Scott, handled by David won Dog with the Waggiest Tail. That one was hard as it was difficult to assess the seven very happy, wagging dogs! Best Child Handler, went to Katie showing Tess. Most Handsome Dog went to Clare Gresswell with Archie, a gorgeous English Springer Spaniel. Bramble Dickason, a smart Schnauzer shown by Corbyn, came in second, and Max the senior English Setter owned and shown by Rosemary came third. Poor Max was rather nervous and so he was shown from outside the ring!

Best puppy went to Mrs Shrimpton with "Rupert".

The Scruffiest Dog award went to Holly Connolly, shown by young Megan. The Prettiest Bitch was Emma's Numpty, a lovely young Estrela Mountain Dog. Second place went to Australian terrier " Millie" Clarke (more used to getting awards from top dog shows such as Crufts), and third to Phil and Lynne with "Nellie" the chocolate Labrador.

It was all good fun, and I am only sorry they could not all have won, as they were all so well behaved, and all the owners were good sports too.
Many thanks to Poonam and Lynne, for organising this very successful new idea for the Fete.

~ Carol Spooner

New Editor Wanted

In September editor Phil Spooner announced his resignation, after presiding over more than 50 issues of The Chronicle. He told the readers...

"I've always wanted to resign something 'to spend more time with my family'. That seemingly innocuous little phrase usually hints at some form of exciting indiscretion and, whilst nothing could be further from the truth, I rather like the air of notoriety that it confers.

"The truth is that I have been editing The Chronicle for nearly five years now. I have enjoyed the job immensely and I hope that my efforts have in some measure paid back a little of the friendship and warmth that we have found since we moved here to Aston Abbotts seven years ago. However, these days my day job is making much greater demands upon my time and I really do want to pay a bit more attention to our elderly family. (Mrs Ed thinks she sees enough of me anyway.) I have less spare time now, and more demands are made upon it. I also feel that I am getting a bit stale, and I simply don't have the time to reinvigorate the magazine. More importantly, I no longer have the time to do the job as well as I would like to do it. So it's time to move on.
That means that I am seeking someone to take over the reins of The Chronicle. I hope to remain a contributor, but a new editor is now needed."

VE Day Anniversary

The September issue carried a feature on Aston Abbotts' VE anniversary celebrations. You can read the full article here.

The AA Cup Final

There I was sitting in the pub a few Friday's ago minding my own business when out of the haze appears "The Master Manipulator". First the flattery, can you play football for us at the May Bank Holiday came the question. Sorry too old, too slow, too many adjectives to put down here and then we get to the real reason for the approach. Okay but I'm sure you wouldn't want to let down Queen, country, village etc., so can you run the line.
Lawrence Hinds had got his man.

I have to say when I asked who was playing I got rather a surprise, Aston Abbotts v The Czech Republic, it sounded a bit one sided to me. Lol then said that the Czechs would be supported by the Slovakians. Oh well, that was okay then.

But who would be supporting us - this village of about 400 souls - plenty on the touchline I'm sure but were we up to this on our own.

Anyway the day arrives. The weather couldn't have been better, the crowds were there, the Aston Abbotts team were there, everybody was there --- apart from the opposition. Wingrave, being Wingrave, has two recreation grounds and we were all at their lovely new facility at the Aston Abbotts end of the village. Unfortunately the Czechs were at the other ground but a quick chase in the car by Lawrence and it was all sorted out.

A few minutes later they appeared with their matching blue kit. When I say matching I mean the shirts, shorts and socks had obviously been bought as a set. They looked good and they looked BIG. The goalkeeper wanted to warm up using the crossbar to carry out a series of chin-ups but he was much too tall. The Aston team also looked good. The matching white T-shirts with the ink still wet looked fetching and the fascinating array of colours of the rest of their kit was a fashion talking point for the whole of the afternoon. But on to the game - that's what we had come to see.

A bundled goal, despite a lovely pass from one of our side, put the Czechs ahead. Aston fought back building on their strength at the back and soon pulled even. For the first half and the early part of the second half they were probably the better team but honours were even by the end of the match and a 3-3 result was, in my view, a fair outcome.

One of the busiest men that afternoon was the team medic, Avi Gupta. He was certainly on and off that field more than he expected. I spoke to him before the game and he told me he had plenty of ice in his cool box, to keep the beer at the right temperature. I'm not sure he had involved all of his family in his conspiracy as one time, when he ran on the pitch carrying the cool box to deal with a nasty clash of heads, his young son chased after him holding a carrier bag and I swear I heard him say, very quietly, "Dad don't forget your beer!"
Who were the stars of our team that day. They all were but I'd like to pick out one person in particular and they weren't even on the field. I played football many years ago against Dave Wheaton and he was a very good player indeed and I'm sure it brought a tear to his eye to see the influence his gene pool exerted that day. Well done Dave.

By the way, did anyone else notice the very different accent put on during the day by Aston Abbotts' resident German, Herr Wilkinson. All of cries of "Jolly good show" and "Spiffing match" and the like didn't fool me for a minute but it did make me think that there must be a reason. Either he's going undercover or he finally accepts that goal was over in the 1966 World Cup final. I'll leave it to you to decide.

~ John Whyte

Aston Abbotts in the News

The Aston Abbotts Czechoslovak Festival made news in the UK and in the Czech Republic. The Czech national newspaper Dnes ('Today') had an article about the festival written by their London correspondent Zuzana Polakova who was at the event. This mentions Victor Scott and Bernard Osborn.

On the radio Aston Abbotts was featured on a programme made by Radio Prague. This included interviews with the Czech Ambassador, Neil Rees, Victor Scott, Vojta Levin, Valerie Osborn and Wilfred Halsey.
It also featured on the BBC World Service Czech Section. This included interviews with František Elston and Vic Scott

On the television Aston Abbotts appeared as a news feature on Czech Television 1 with interviews with Vojta Levin, Victor Scott and Neil Rees.

~ Neil Rees

A number of special events celebrating and commemorating the Second World war connection between Aston Abbotts and the former Czechoslovakia were held on the weekend of Saturday 30th April and Sunday 1st May 2005.

His Excellency Štefan Füle, the Czech Ambassador, and Radovan Javorcik, the Deputy Head of Mission from the Slovak Embassy, attended on Sunday May 1st when there was a memorial service to remember the strong link between Aston Abbotts and Czechoslovakia. A lunch party was held for the visiting dignitaries, the special visitors who had been here or in Wingrave during during the war, and the older Aston Abbotts residents who remembered the Czech presence in the 1940s. The day finished with a football match between Aston Abbotts and a team from the Czech and Slovak embassies, and with a flypast by the Lancaster bomber from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Click here to read more and see pictures of the events.

Bernard Osborn's Shop to Close

this month we reported how Osborn's shop was to close, after 70-80 years serving Aston Abbotts.

You can read the full article here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).

VE Day Celebration Doubt

This issue carried confusing messages about the proposed Aston Abbotts VE Day Czech celebrations, planned for the May Day holiday weekend. The confusion in the Chronicle was more than matched by the confusion amongst the hardworking organisers, who had to grapple with lack of funds (grant not approved in time) and various people pulling out of the plans.

Burns Supper raises £428 For Tsunami Appeal

For many years the 630 Club had traditionally organised a Burns supper in the village. However, when first the Bull and Butcher and then the Old Masters restaurant closed their doors it was felt that there was nowhere which could offer the facility to seat sufficient people in one room for a semi-formal supper with speeches and toasts.

It took a Gnome – April Curnow to be precise - to suggest over dinner one evening to 630 Club secretary Andy Bystra that it should be possible to hold a Burns supper in the Church room. Until then it had been thought impractical to serve a full hot meal with the limited facilities available there, but a team of hard working gnomes led by Francesca Bean and April did the impossible!
Two long tables were laid out in the Church room to seat around 44 people. Francesca, April and several other Gnomes laid on a delicious and piping hot traditional Burns supper, starting with cock-a-leeky soup . A dozen haggises (or should that be hagii) were cooked and Christine Elwood, one of possibly only two real Scots in the village, was called upon to address the haggis. A desert of crowdie and cheese and biscuits followed the main course of haggis, neeps and tatties.

Appetites sated, it was time for the toasts. Ray Wilkinson led with a toast to the Queen, followed by Peter Shorrock who gave us some fascinating stories of Robbie Burns. Andy Bystra toasted the lassies, Clare Shorrock replied for the Gnomes, then Carol Spooner toasted the 630 Club, with the reply from 630 Club chairman Peter Elwood.

Later in evening a selection of Scottish songs were sung, despite a rather confusing episode when Neil Chesher played the wrong music!

The intention was to raise funds for on the tsunami appeal during the evening. In the event the whole evening raised a magnificent total of £428. Thanks must go to everybody who worked so hard to make the evening a success, especially Andy, April and Francesca, but also the many others who put in so much effort and gave us all such a wonderful time.

Farewell to Don Bellingham

Don’s funeral was held on the morning of Monday the 17th January 2005.

Mourners arrived to the strains of a violinist playing quietly in the bell tower.
There followed a very moving Service conducted by Reverend Bob Willmott during which Don’s son-in-law Erich gave a resume of his extremely interesting life. A moving tribute to Don ‘the family man’ was paid by his nephew Roger and this was followed by an appreciation of Don ‘the country man’ by Peter Knight.

The ceremony concluded with an RAF trumpeter sounding the Last Post from the bell tower.

A fitting ‘send off’ for a much respected and loved gentleman of Aston Abbotts.

~ Andy Bystra

Chicken Farm Proposal

Last month's jokey item about Aston Egg-otts provoked a more serious article from Ann Dicken:

For those of you who did not attend the last Parish Council Meeting in January, you will wish to know that a contract has been exchanged for the sale of Norduck Farm to a chicken farmer. His intention is to erect three large sheds on the land either side of Norduck lane leading to the existing large farm barn and adjacent to Masons Wood. The intention is to house 18,000 birds and to stock some of the land with cattle and sheep. The chickens will be free range and their enclosures will cut across the two existing footpaths that cross the farm land and also the bridleway that runs from Moat Lane to the Cublington to Whitchurch road.

The effect of this undertaking on the village will be far reaching. The most immediate consequence will be the increase in heavy traffic through the village to provision the farm and to remove the produce and manure. Perhaps the most persistent and noticeable effect will be the chicken odours that will pervade the village when the wind is from a westerly direction. This is the prevailing wind direction. For those of you with expensive houses, you might find that the creation of a chicken farm on the village doorstep would have an adverse effect on the resale value of your property.

Aston Egg-otts

A planning consultant acting on behalf of Kinsale agriculture, who specialise in organic egg production, will make a presentation to the parish council outlining a proposal to build an egg production unit with 60,000 hens housed in three units next to Freemason’s Wood, at Norduck.

It should be stressed that this is not a planning application at present - it is a proposal. Anybody wishing to know more about how this might affect the village should attend the parish council meeting at 8 o’clock on January 12th in the Church room, when the presentation will be made by the eggspert [sorry, sorry – I just couldn’t help it].

V E Day plans

Petr Miller, the Czech defense attaché, and David Frous, the Czech press secretary, were amongst the 35 people who met in the Church room on December 8th to discuss a celebration and remembrance of the second world war Czech presence in Aston Abbotts, during next year’s VE Day celebrations. Neil Rees from Ley Hill, writer of our recent Czech articles, also attended.

A three-day celebration was proposed and it was suggested that one day could be a VIP day, possibly with representatives from the Czech Republic and also veterans of the war attending. Other possibilities for the three days that were discussed included an exhibition, a football match between the Czech and Slovak embassies and Aston Abbotts, a memorial service, twinning with a Czech town, Czech dancing, bell ringing, folk groups, Czech films, a wartime dinner and dance, and a fly past.

The meeting discussed the possibility of obtaining grants to funds these activities. A committee was elected to plan the events, co-opting representatives from the various social groups in Aston Abbotts, from the parish council, and from Wingrave. The next meeting for the group will be on the 12th January when they will progress the grant application and start to draw up an agenda for the weekend.

The proposed date for the celebrations is the May Bank Holiday weekend, as this falls just before VE Day.

A New Village Centre?

Simon Gresswell and Neil Chesher have spent several months on a feasibility study into a new village centre. This would provide a new purpose-built facility, larger and much more modern than the current Church Room (which fails to meet modern standards or village requirements.

The feasibility study can be read by clicking on the link below:

Village Centre Feasibility Study

You need Adobe Acrobat on your computer to read the document. This can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe

You can save the document to your hard disk by right-clicking on the link and selecting "Save Target As..." from the popup menu.

Don's Crossword

After the previous month's announcement that Don Bellingham would no longer be contributing the monthly crossword the December issue carried two letters thanking him.

Andy Bystra wrote: "Just couldn’t let this month go by without saying how sorry I was to hear that Don is no longer going to produce the Chronicle crossword. I have always enjoyed having a go at it as soon as I had finished reading each new issue (though not always managing to complete it). So far as I was concerned, I liked the inclusion of ‘local’ clues and felt he seemed to have the knack of constructing each puzzle with just the right amount of difficulty. Many thanks Don for what has probably amounted to a good few hours of pleasure and, on occasions, the odd headache!"

And Peter Knight said: "Alex and I would like to record our thanks to Don Bellingham for all of the many entertaining crossword puzzles he has contributed to the Chronicle. I imagine it being more difficult to compile a crossword than to solve it. Thank you very much Donald, for all your splendid puzzles."

The Czech Connection

The November issue carried the first article suggesting a commemoration of the Czech connection with Aston Abbotts. Neil Rees wrote:

Aston Abbotts: The exile capital of Czechoslovakia! May 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. For Aston Abbotts there are special reasons to celebrate this anniversary, because during the war Aston Abbotts was the wartime home of President Benes (pronounced “Benesh”) of Czechoslovakia and a platoon of the Czechoslovak Army.

The Czech Ambassador in Aston Abbotts. On Monday 11th October the Czech Ambassador, Stefan Fule, his wife, his Defence Attache and his chauffeur came to Aston Abbotts for a private history tour of the village starting at the bus shelter. They met Colin Higgs, who remembers the Czechoslovak soldiers and Victor Scott, who was a friend of President Benes. They saw the Nissen huts where the Czechoslovak soldiers lived, before going to the Royal Oak for large English dinners!

Footpath Rerouting

Buckinghamshire County Council have received an application to reroute footpath number 1 (The Grove) .

The letter sent to our Parish Council states “The proposal is to divert the route of the path from that marked with the solid black line between points A and B to that shown by the dashed black line A-C.

The reason for the diversion is that the existing footpath runs across fields containing livestock and horses, which sometimes intimidate walkers. There are concerns for the safety of walkers and so the new route will be fenced off to keep animals and walkers apart and will be 5 metres wide throughout.”

Sad Farewells

Aston Abbotts has sadly lost three village characters who will be greatly missed by those of us in the village, as well of course by their families and close friends to whom we send our heart felt commiserations.

Firstly, Jack Turner who’s gruff wit, friendly generosity and magnificent Summer floral displays were enjoyed by all who passed his bungalow. Jack died suddenly at home. He was cremated on 12th July at Amersham where several villagers joined his family in attending the ceremony.

Secondly, Mike Coleman who had lived and worked in the village for a good many years. Since his retirement, he was regularly seen taking his daily walk around the village or tending his neat front garden where he always seemed to be the first to have spring flowers in bloom. Mike regrettably died during a brief spell in hospital.

Following a service at St. Josephs in Aylesbury on Wed 28th July, Mike’s burial took place at St James, Aston Abbotts attended by his family, friends and many villagers.

Thirdly, Alf. Parker who had lived in Aston Abbotts for all of his life, scarcely spending a night away from the village. One of six children (three boys and three girls) Alf was born in Wingrave Cottages. Spending a lifetime in farming at Red Barn Farm, he also at one time helped out with the bakery at the Bull and Butcher, delivering the bread. On retirement Alf moved from Red Barn Farm to a bungalow near Longmoor Barns

His funeral, attended by family, friends and several villagers, took place at the Methodist Chapel Weedon on Mon. 23rd August. Following the Service at Weedon, Alf was buried at St James, Aston Abbotts.

New Parish Council Leader

It’s all change at the top as Aston Abbotts gets a new parish council leader. Tom Manning, who has been leader for the last couple of years, and also served as leader back in the 1990s, has decided that it is time he steps down, as he is no longer resident in the parish. Tom remains on the council as he still carries on the family tradition of farming in Aston Abbotts and has strong links and a very strong interest in the village. We would like to extend our thanks for all of the hard work that he has put in as leader and we are grateful that he has agreed to remain on the parish council.

Colin Higgs has agreed to take on the post of leader. Colin will be known to most of you as a tireless volunteer and worker within the village. He has also been on the council and has held the position of parish council leader in the past. So our thanks to Colin for agreeing to take on the important job of heading the team who look after the interests of the parish.

Church Room Passions

The subject of the Church Room raised some considerable passion at this year’s Annual Parish Meeting, with the Reverend Bob Willmott expressing considerable dismay and frustration at a perceived rift between the Church and village over the issue. He also expressed anger that the church was incurring legal expenses as a result of the protracted legal process.

Peter Shorrock provided an excellent overview of the current position which, whilst concise, left one with the impression of the legal fraternity going around in ever decreasing circles and in imminent danger of disappearing up their own backsides. It was left to Gordon Smith to be a voice of reason and point out that there was no rift and that a common goal existed. This led to an easing of the inflamed passions.

Neil Chesher made a very well-argued proposal to the meeting that the village should consider building a new larger village centre. Explaining that he was currently heading a feasibility study, he outlined his group’s contacts with other villages who had implemented similar schemes. His proposal that the feasibility study should continue gained general approval, with several people pointing out that the two village Hall/Centre schemes could currently run in parallel until the point at which the village needed to commit its resources.

60s/70s Party

Poonam Gupta was our cover girl for the April issue, which carried a report on the 60s/70s party held in the Church room.

Naked Gnomes

For some time a group of ladies in the village have been meeting every Tuesday evening for a drink and a natter. The group call themselves the GNOMES (Girls Night Out - Men Excluded, Sorry).

Influenced by the film Calendar Girls they decided to pose 'naked' for the front cover. The sight of twelve naked gnomes in a pub was almost to much for your editor to take, but he struggled manfully and manage to take a photo.

The cover was featured in the Bucks Herald a couple of weeks after publication

The Church Room

Peter Shorrock reports how the Church Room redevelopment plan has become bogged down in legal wrangles. "I use the word “saga” deliberately: it is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “a long story of heroic achievement”. If we finally succeed in achieving our aim of getting a lease of the Village Hall, despite the obstacles and procrastination with which we have been faced, it will have been fairly heroic; and one thing that cannot be disputed is that it will certainly have been long! "

Meanwhile, in an item on the same page, Neil Chesher puts forward the idea of developing a new Village Centre instead of renovating the old Church Room.

Get Ready For Broadband

We made it! As we went to press last month the required number of registrations of people interested in obtaining broadband Internet access burst through the trigger level of 300.

Now the date is set :

28th January 2004

So, if all goes well we should be able to get broadband Internet here in Aston Abbotts from the end of next January. This will enable those who are interested to get much faster Internet access. I know many people in the village were interested in obtaining the service, but thought it would never happen. Now it looks like becoming a reality at last

~ Phil Spooner

Still Rambling On

Aston Abbotts Rambling Club celebrated its 30th anniversary last Saturday with - Colin Higgs the founder, member; leading a repeat of the original, walk to Cublington. Starting from The Green the route followed field paths via Longmoor and Badgers Oak to Cublington with the less agile returning by bus. The remainder continued along the High Street and Dog Lane and Hollow Ground back to Aston Abbotts for lunch at The Royal Oak. Then on Sunday the walkers met at Quainton for an afternoon walk led by their chairman Mike Ward.

Starting from The Green the route passed the Winwood Almshouses, dating back to 1687 and Magpie Cottage, the home of George Lipscombe, author of the History of Antiques of Buckinghamshire. Then downhill field paths took the ramblers to Denham Farm and the Hogshaw Road, returning via Conduit Hill and the windmill. Standing 90ft high, it was built-in 1830 with local bricks and restored in 1976.

~ Colin Higgs

The Von Simsons Bid Farewell

The Abbey, Aston Abbotts

Dear Editor,

The final straw was Peter Knight saying at the Fete that I had been runner-up in the Squire of the Year Competition. Runner Up!!!???? Obviously time to move on.

Seriously though, some of your readers have no doubt been wondering what was going on at The Abbey and whether it was on the market. Mind you, there have been rumours (unfounded until now) of it being on the market almost from the day we moved in - fourteen years ago!

But yes, this time it was true. The fact is that we are still and to our great regret tied to being in London in the week for work reasons, and so have ended up being "week-enders" for all our time here.

When we bought it from Mrs Morton's estate, the Abbey was in a sad state, with the roof leaking, the electrics frightening, the plumbing dodgy, and the gardens overgrown. And the owners by then were property developers with not much interest in anything other than a quick buck.

Happily we have been able to restore the house structurally. Meanwhile Alex and Peter (as anyone who visited the gardens on open days will know) rolled back 25 years of neglect and made the folk at Wisley look nervously to their laurels - and their roses for that matter.

Alice and Rachel are now at university - and we are still stuck in the London-week mode. Meanwhile we have always felt guilty about being "part-timers" and felt that the Abbey should be in full-time occupation, which it now will be.

On 15th October we hand over to Mr and Mrs Martin Olley and their four children, and leave the Abbey in excellent hands (nicer people would be hard to find) and Aston Abbotts for the last time. We will always have the fondest memories of our time here, the many acts of kindness and the community spirit which the Chronicle helps to maintain. Thank you all for making us feel so welcome for fourteen years.

~ Alice & Rachel, Laura & David von Simson

That Rings A Bell

One of the nicest characteristics of this village is that most people are so helpful, and selfless. They have a distinct tendency to be mindful of the importance of retaining the all those essential attributes which ensure Aston Abbotts remains the small, pleasant and quintessentially English village we so enjoy and wish to nurture. To hand down to our heirs it’s fabric and the traditions we are all so proud to uphold.

So, it was with immense pleasure that we learned Neil Chesher and Tim Peacock have recently been invited by non other than the ‘Captain of the Tower’ (Peter Knight) to join that illustrious band; The St James Bell Ringers.
Responding to a question from our correspondent, Neil’ stated; “It’s a great honour to have been asked. It will of course be a challenge but I see it as a furtherance to my musical career and if all goes well I shall doubtless be trading in the keyboard and guitar for a set of hand bells. My somewhat extensive sailing experience will no doubt be a great asset since my hands are already heavily calloused (from handling ropes in all weathers). I’ll never forget the moment Peter asked me to join ‘the tower’…….and don’t think I haven’t tried!”

Tim responded angrily at the suggestion that he had accepted the invitation simply on the basis that from inside his cottage the noise of the bells is so intolerable that he might as well joint the blighters! Or that he had been ‘set up’ by Neil. “No!” he said. “A career in the Army has taught me the importance of tradition. Besides! I’ve been retired for several years and I really miss not having to do everything by numbers and I’m hoping bell ringing will put all that right.”

~ A. Bee

Fete 2003

See pictures from the fete here.

WELL DONE EVERYBODY - This year’s fete has been a great success. I have heard reports from both Wingrave and Cublington that the Aston Abbotts fete is ‘the best’ – and of course we all know that this is true! This is no doubt due to the work over many years by lots of people to make it as it is. So a huge thank you has to go to everybody involved, the members of the 630 club who set up the stalls (and more importantly took them down again), all of the stallholders who have the task of pricing up goods, transporting them on the day, selling and then disposing of unwanted items, also the entertainment and ‘sustenance’ stalls, all of which add to both the enjoyment and the profits. I find it hard to believe (and it was also quite worrying!) that at 12.30 pm The Green was still very empty apart from stalls with nothing on them, but at 5.30 pm I was delighted to find that The Green was even emptier with nothing unusual there apart from a pile of rubbish. Within this time we had raised OVER £2,800!!!!!!!

Without the numerous people willing to help out with the Fete, it would not have been such a success. After a couple of glasses of wine and one or two telephone calls, any minor hiccups on the day were solved. I am sure that most of us were exhausted but elated by the end of the day – and weren’t we lucky with the weather. You may not recall, but it rained all day on the Friday and the weathermen did not promise much better on the Saturday – but I had a quick word with Somebody upstairs and everything was OK.

We were also very lucky to engage the services of such a professional MC, who wandered, or sometimes rushed, around the Green keeping everybody informed. I have heard rumours that it was actually Des Lynam with a new Saturday job – who knows!

So now we can relax – but only until next March when the team start to prepare for next year’s event. So put a date in your diary and make sure you plan your holiday around the (in)famous Aston Abbotts Fete 2004 – Saturday 24th July.

~ Jackie Farrands

Astonbury 2003

See the pictures from Astonbury here.

It couldn’t have been a better evening for a picnic in the open air at Astonbury 2003. On a glorious summer’s evening over nearly 300 people packed into the garden at Norduck.

Once again a full professional stage, sound and lighting rig had been very generously provided by Andy Stefanczyk’s company Stuff Business.
The money is not all collected yet, but provisional accounts show an expected profit of £3420.

That is an astonishing amount, a significant part of which was raised by Andi Swain’s expert auctioneering of a light aircraft flight generously donated by Dave Lewis. In the end, the flight was sold several times, with Dave agreeing to put on extra trips.

But it was the music, the event and the atmosphere that most people had come from. The occasional technical glitch went largely unnoticed and left the performers completely unphased. The audience settled down to enjoy the evening – and what a glorious evening it was.

The atmosphere at Astonbury is always special and this year the hot weather was an added extra bonus. At the start the children played happily in front of the stage and, as the sun went down, a half dozen or more hot-air balloons floated silently overhead. As final darkness fell even some of the most reticent were encouraged out of their seats to dance in front of the stage.
The performers were wonderful, as ever. The quality of their acts belied the fact that they were mainly amateurs from, or connected with, the village. I can’t single out any particular act without causing offence to the others, so let me just say ‘Well done’ to one and all!

Once again a great event, but musical director Neil Chesher says that this year’s event was the last…

The Open Gardens Day

The Open Gardens day raised £550 for St James Church. The plant stall also raised £100 for the Florence Nightingale hospice.

Over £2200 for Cancer Research and relief was raised by Teri, Gary, Kerry, Kim and friends at the Royal Oak on Sunday the 18th of May. The girls from the Oak took part in the Race For Life in the morning and followed it with an afternoon and evening of fun back at the pub.

Many people turned up to join in the fun, There is a longer report with some pictures here.

This will take place over the weekend of 26/27 July, with the fete itself on Saturday 26th at 2 pm. The Aston Abbotts fete is a traditional English fete. Attractions usually include a band, Morris men, rides for the children and many stalls such as bric-a-brac, plants, tombola, coconut shy, books, household goods. There is a raffle with many prizes. Teas will be served in the Church Room and the Church will be open. Everybody is very welcome.

The money raised at the fete goes mainly to the Church and the Church Room redevelopment, with the remainder being used to help finance the Chronicle and the Toddlers group.

Astonbury 2003

This is a major social event for Aston Abbotts residents. This years event will take place on Saturday 12th July at the usual place. Tickets are available from John Whyte and are limited to residents, friends and guests.

Rita’s Coffee Morning

Many thanks to everyone who came and spent at Rita’s Coffee Morning which raised £144.50 – and special thanks to Andy Bystra who’s magnificent lardy cakes raised an extra £30. Proceeds to The Friends Of St James.

Friends Of St James Market Stall

We have booked a market stall in Aylesbury for Saturday November 1st and are planning to sell a wide variety of goods such as gifts, cakes, preserves, garden produce, baskets of bulbs, herbs, dried flower arrangements, etc.. If you can help to stock or man our stall we will be grateful for any contributions – more of this nearer the time.

Vehicle Crime

A Landrover was stolen from The Green during February. Thieves made off with the vehicle in the early hours of the morning. That makes at least three car thefts and break-ins in recent months. In one case the damage done to a car as the thieves tried to break in was so severe that the insurance company initially thought it might be a write-off. It’s not just in Aston Abbotts either. There have been several car break-ins and burglaries in Wingrave recently.

The Bull and Butcher Public House Closes

The end – when it came – was sudden. It seemed to take everybody by surprise.

On Tuesday the 11th of March the news of the Bull’s imminent closure circulated. On Wednesday the pub was packed with people from the surrounding area who had used the pub in the past. The following night was much quieter, with a few people enjoying a quiet drink. Then, that evening, Thursday 13th March, the Bull and Butcher, which had served the people of Aston Abbotts for the best part of a century, closed its doors for good.

Closure had been inevitable once planning inspector Terry G Philmore had given the green light to closure of the pub and residential redevelopment of the site, but villagers were stunned by the sudden departure of Frank and Louise as it had been widely expected they would remain in the village. Perhaps they will return one day? We wish them well.