A packed out evening with nine teams taking part in what has become an annual event with Vince being our quiz master extraordinare. Fish and chips went down well with some opting for sausage in batter. The food was nice hot and very tasty.

Once again we have had a feast of services to celebrate the harvest festival. We had both a morning service and an evening traditional sing with the choir were well attended. The festivites has raised £179 and the food which we have collected is going to be delivered to Chapter 1 in Atherstone, which together with NWBC run "2nd chance furniture" and distribute food to those who are referred to them. Flowers have also been distributed locally to those who are not very well.
The packed and fully sold out Harvest Supper the following evening was concluded with its now familiar but never the same Vince Coggins Quiz which eventually saw a new table of winners. Thanks go to Chris and Sue for all their hard work preparing the meal and looking after us all.
​Do you know who ran the first foreign excursion in 1855? How many lines are there in a sonnet? What is Sherlocks Holmes actually address? (is it a trick question?) The prize for the best answer  to "where did Captain Cook first land in Australia?" has to be the memorable, even if technically non scoring "on the beach" which our quizmaster would not allow!

Thomas Cook, 14, 221B Baker Street and Botany Bay if you are interested! Yes we know 221B does not exist as well.

An intrepid twelve hikers braved the weather this year. Our leader Keith Woodward steered the group on a road only route as the walk started just as the rain did and seemed to stop soon after their return. Our minister for the evening, Rev. Neil Johnson did the walk as well as leading us all through the well attended evening service, after the walkers and more than a few others from around the circuit, were fortified by the now traditional beefburgers and sausages. Many thanks to all our helpers today, from washers-up to trail leader.

If you came you are probably stuffed and do not want to see another pudding - well perhaps till tomorrow! A well attended event saw a massive range of pudding to tempt everyone . Twenty puddings were eaten by 54 guests which raised a total of £410. The event was a sell out. Thank you to all our pudding makers - your products were demolished remarkably quickly.

Another superbly catered evening with the now well known quiz afterwards. This year the blackberry and apple pie was in demand but blows were not exchanged! The quiz master was in his element and the variations on the rounds continue to delight although some tables needed to know what "Family Fortunes" perhaps was to play the one round. A cockney rhyming slang round was perhaps the most enjoyable.  Many questions did not have a wrong answer but still did not get points; and we all know that points lead to prizes.
Do you know when the premium bonds started - the closest date won the webmasters team a chocolate orange. Answer in the read more if you were not there and desperate to know.

A delightful afternoon helped by Peter Tonks coming to our Messy Church to give us a music bonanza. The children (and some adults!) enjoyed rattling tambourines and shaking some castanets to create a good noise! Again a nice range of ages present and despite the holiday we still had about 15 attendees of all ages. They could get involved with face painting and painting butterflies, making a bookmark and a blow windmill. A lot of nice items were made and the "One more step along the world I go" song was learnt for the family service tomorrow. 

Many thanks for helping to make this event such a success .Hope you have recovered by now and will be delighted to see how much money was made over the weekend. Many visitors said how much they had enjoyed themselves.

RAFFLE;                       650.00
TICKETS;                      2035.00
PLANTS;                       97.40    
REFRESHMENTS;     138.10                        (apart from the Methodist Church)
EXTRAS;                        39.52
DONATIONS;               100.00
TOTAL                       £  3060.02

This means that  both Alzheimers  and Parkinsons have received £1530 each for research into these terrible diseases .

The Methodist Church also collected £458  from teas provided there. Costs overall were kept to a minimum and only amounted to £42, all of which came out of the tea money, leaving them with £416. This means that £3476.02  passed through our hands over the weekend.

Lots of people gave up their time to help and the event could not run without your support. Thank you again.

A wonderful weekend with sunny skies and thronged crowds packing the village to view the gardens. The tea, cakes and coffee just about lasted and even the morris dancing ladies had dry grass to dance on. All in all a very successful weekend with a massive thank you to all our volunteers and keen gardeners. If you missed the weekend here is a small snap shot of some of the scenes you could have viewed.

The effort was all worth it as we have a raised a sizeable sum to be split between charities supporting Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.