Whatlington

The main church news for Whatlington this week from Jeffrey is that we have held our last service in the Village Hall and next Sunday, the 24th we shall be returning to our church building with the 08.30 Parish Communion service. To some extent we shall be ‘camping out’ in the church as the restoration works are not yet complete, but we do now have some seating and the Nave is quite usable, it is also warm - thanks to the under-floor heating!

We expect delivery of the new free standing pews next week and so things will now gradually come together. Some of the original furniture is now back whilst other items are in the process of being restored. Edward Haringman is doing this work and we were very impressed to see the new top which he has made for an oak table which was badly charred. This table is in memory of two former parishioner’s who played significant roles in the church, Betty Petty and Alice Lavender and Edward has replicated the original carving in the new top with their initials in an oval surround.

The kitchen is being fitted out as is the WC, though as yet the drains remain to be connected, so these will not be usable for a while yet.

As I said recently, the formal re-opening will be in early 2014, once everything is completed, but in the meantime the first more significant service in the church will be the Carol Service on December 15th at 10.30am.

All being well villagers living near the church will once again hear the bells being rung from this coming Sunday!

The next Irish Music Night at The Royal Oak is next Friday 29th November from 8pm - always a super evening, and something a bit different.

The pub quiz is every Thursday evening from 8pm for teams of up to six. Entry is just £1 and the winning team has a chance to win the jackpot. Our Christmas Quiz will be on Thursday 19th so don’t forget to pop that date in your diary!

We have made a date for a Port and cheese tasting evening on Saturday December 5th. We did this last year and it was such a good night, so if you would like to reserve a ticket, please call me on 01424 870492.

The next Film Club night will be Friday December 13th when we will be watching the heart warming festive film “The Holiday” from 8pm.

The Book Club will next meet on Tuesday 17th December from 7.30pm at The Royal Oak to chat about “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford - let’s see if I can actually get round to reading the book this time!

If you have any news or events that you would like included in this column, please email me on [email protected]