The first issue of the Aston Abbotts parish magazine - The Chronicle - appeared in September 1983. Its first editor was Graham Parker, who felt “the principle reason for the dubious honour is probably that I was not at the meeting when the position was discussed”. Since then there have been over 400 issues and it has remained a popular publication with villagers. The Chronicle has always striven to fulfil a number or roles: chronicling village life as it happens in this little corner of England, making people aware of forthcoming events and other important information, and seeking to entertain its readers. Around 200 copies of each issue are printed by Waddesdon School. These are delivered free of charge to every household in Aston Abbotts - also to local Doctor's surgeries, libraries and Wing police house. This free distribution is made possible by the support of our advertisers, a contribution from the village fête proceeds (decided at the Annual Parish Meeting), and fund raising activities. It has always been, and will always remain, a firm principle that distribution is free to village residents. Popular regular features are supplemented by local restaurant reviews, contributions from villagers, jokes, humorous articles, special features and the occasional bit of controversy. In 2015 the then editor Phil Corrigan improved the magazine by introducing colour front and back pages and changing to an A5 format. Pete Lucas, the current editor, has further improved the magazine by taking advantage of improved reproduction quality to include more photographs and often printing articles of local interest. In 2021 Trevor Hall took on the arduous task of scanning all of the issues from 1983 to 2021 - 12,940 pages! The result of his herculean effort is the Chronicle Archive which has been added to this website by the webmaster and can be accessed via the link at the top-right of this page. It is planned to update this archive annually with the previous year’s issues.

1983-1989 Graham Parker 1989-1994 Caroline Lane and Gordon Smith 1994-1995 Rota system with ‘guest’ editors Chris and Bridget Brandon, Simon and Helen Dowling, David de Silva and Barbara Bellingham, Deirdre Whyte, Andy Bystra, Gordon Kemp and Ann Goodman, Janet Biddle, Margaret Chesher, Margaret Kent , Jeremy Bale, and Caroline Lane 1995-1998 Andy Bystra 1998-2000 Andi Swain 2001-2005 Phil Spooner 2006-2009 John Hardcastle 2010 Janice Issitt 2011-2014 John Hardcastle 2015-2016 Phil Corrigan 2016- … Pete Lucas

THE CHRONICLE ARCHIVE Read all past issues

THE HISTORY OF THE CHRONICLE

THE CHRONICLE’s BACK PAGE

NOTABLE ARTICLES LIST

Current editor Pete Lucas