Whatlington village voice - April 6

Parish church services over Easter will be 6pm on Good Friday and a Holy Communion (incorporating a family service with refreshments afterwards) on Easter Sunday at 9am (Please note this is different to the normal Sunday time of 8.30am)

On Thursday 29th March parents and governors were invited to Mountfield and Whatlington School for the current Head Teacher Mr Helletts leaving assembly. There was a large turn out to say good bye and the whole school were entertained by Mrs Bonnick’s excellent presentation. There was a song from the children, written by Mrs Bonnick, which explained some of Mr Helletts finer points as a Head teacher, such as sweeping the school and washing up! Each class then gave him a card and then he was shown a DVD of the children saying good-bye in some very unusual ways. There was then a presentation of a tankard, a Swiss army knife and a beautiful plate of a hand painted tree with the children’s names making up the leaves. Following the presentation everyone was invited to eat the tasty cakes which spelt out Good Bye Mr Hellett, which had been made by Anna who is a member of staff at the school. He has been at the school for nine years and will be sorely missed. An interim Head Teacher to cover the summer term has been announced and the school are at present recruiting for a full time Head Teacher to start in September 2012.

A very Happy Easter from Mike and Alex at The Royal Oak to all of our customers, we look forward to seeing you over the Easter Holidays! Dani and Amy are back on Saturday (7th) for one of their legendary cocktail nights! If you fancy a Cosmopolitan, Mojito or even a Sex on the Beach (!), you can find them all at The Royal Oak bar on Saturday evening. This is a chance to dress up and let your hair down in the middle of the Bank Holiday weekend! Then, assuming that we’ve all recovered from our hangovers, we will be serving the usual menu and delicious roasts on Sunday until 3pm, please get in touch if you would like to book a table.

Don’t forget the Pub Quiz is every Thursday at The Royal Oak from 8pm. £1 per person entry for teams of up to 6 people - come along and give those little grey cells some exercise!

We enjoyed a wonderful Irish Music night at the pub last Friday - it was absolutely packed around the bar and a fabulous atmosphere. A big thank-you to Jo and Paul and all of the musicians that travel such distances to play. This really is the most uplifting and unique evening, so put the date of the next one in your diary - Friday 25th May from 8.30pm.

We are looking forward to the Film Club gathering this evening (Friday) for “A Room With A View” that will be shown in The Barn at The Royal Oak from 8pm. New members are welcome to come along and the usual menu will also be available from 6.30pm.  If you would like any further information about the Film Club please email [email protected].

“The Royal Oak Readers” (aka The Book Club!) enjoyed a get-together last week to talk about the Sophie Kinsella book “I’ve Got Your Number”. The general verdict was that it was light-hearted and funny if a bit silly and unrealistic, but I guess that’s fiction! This month’s offering is the slightly more serious “The Sealed Letter” by Emma Donague which follows the rekindling of a friendship between two women set against the backdrop of Victorian London etiquette and the rise of the suffragette movement. The date to discuss this one is Tuesday 1st May at 7.30pm at The Royal Oak, everyone is welcome.

Stop Press!! An additional film showing - The Royal Oak Readers will be watching “The Help” on Tuesday 17th April at 7.30pm in The Barn at The Royal Oak, as it was one of the books we’ve read recently, all Film Club members are also welcome. If you would like any further information about the Book Club, please call Alex on 01424 870492 or email [email protected].

Hilda Aplin, Lismoyne, Oakhurst Road