Hornton Online

You’ve got until midnight tonight, Thursday, to join in Hornton’s latest progressive dinner party.

If you’re still a bit unsure, give it a go because it’s great fun!

For the one or two Horntonians who have been on a different planet over the past few weeks, here’s how it works. You can either opt to be a host or a guest. If you’re a host, you cook a three-course meal and provide the drinks. But this is no ordinary dinner party because you’ll have four people for the starter, four others for the main course and four more for the dessert.

If you’re a guest, you go from house to house and pay your final hosts £25 at the end of the evening and all profits will be shared between the Pavilion Extension fund and JUMPA. It’s brilliant fun and everyone has a great time. If you’re vegetarian, single or only have a tiny room in which to entertain people, don’t worry! Horntonians can squeeze into the tiniest places to eat, lost of single people go and there are loads of vegetarians who take part.

All you need to do is put your name and address on a piece of paper in the box next to the noticeboard by midnight tonight. See you there!

25th January '06 - Out of this World

Preparations are in full swing for the Hornton Film Festival 2006 - and last Sunday the children of the village were completely spaced out by the experience!

“Some of the children of the village helped to film two of the movies that are being put together for the screening on March 11,” said festival organiser Pete Whitehead, who refused to comment on rumours that the children’s entry in this year’s festival had a space theme.

“We don't want to give too much away but assorted aliens and astronauts were seen roaming the village later that afternoon!”

The production and marketing department of the film's backers were also refusing to comment last night but, when challenged on the possibility of an inter-galactic theme, no specific denials were given.

“In any event, under no circumstances should you miss the premiere of this, and all this year's films, on March 11,” said Pete.

And it’s not too late to enter the festival with a film of your own and be in the running for the film world’s most prestigious award - a Horny! No film can be more than five minutes’ long so anyone can some up with a contribution. The entries will be premiered at a glittering awards ceremony on March 11, so starting snapping today!

And if you need any technical help or yo0u want to borrow a camera, no problem. Just ring Pete on 01295 670320.

25th January '06 - BettagotoBingo

Bingo will be held on Friday week, January 27, at the Pavilion. Eyes down at 7.30pm and all proceeds will be go to the pavilion extension fund.

It will be the usual bingo but with the addition of two extra specials with bumper prizes! Some have been promised but more are still needed.

If you can donate anything please contact either Sarah Walther on 01295 670627 or Ann Hemmings on 01295 670511.

25th January '06 - Talk the Talk

You've got just over a week to write articles for the next edition of The Gossip, Hornton’s very own village newspaper. Copy needs to be in by Tuesday week, January 31, so don’t delay - contact editors Julie Stanley and Ann Hemmings today! Julie is on 01295 670507 and Ann is on 01295 670511. Or you can email Ann on ann dot hemmings2 at orh dot nhs dot uk or Julie at julieharrystan at aol dot com

25th January '06 - Tempting Treats in Store at the Ball

Fancy a trip round the BBC, someone doing your DIY for a day or a year’s membership at a gym? All these treats and more will be up for grabs at the smartest social event this Spring - the Hornton Valentine’s Ball.

The Ball - in aid of Hornton School - will be held at Banbury’s Whatley Hall Hotel on Saturday, February 18, and a terrific evening is in store.

As well as the auction and a Grand Raffle with sensational prizes, you’ll also get a three-course meal and you’ll be dancing to live music.

The tickets are £35 each and before you think that’s a lot of money, just think how much a night out costs these days and how much you’ll get for your money at the Hornton Ball. Already more than half the tickets have been snapped up but there's still time for you to buy yours. You can join others in a table or just come along and make up a table on the night. Either way, you’ll be really welcome and have a great time.

So go on, sign up today - either individually or by making up a table of 10 or 12. There will be a live band and a delicious three-course meal. Dancing goes on to midnight and everyone’s going to have a great time. Liz Hurst (01295 343556), Amanda Wray-Mitchell (01295 730402), Carolyn Baker (01295 678553) and Hilary Lidguard (01295 738258).

With the ticket sales going well, the organisers are turning their attention to getting some great prizes for the raffle.

“We’ve got some big prizes but we’d like some small items which we can put together to go into hampers,” said Carolyn Barker.

There’s also going to be an auction of pledges. Do you have a skill which you could donate for a few hours? Are you an architect, a gardener, a motor mechanic, a whiz with the Hoover? Just about anything can be auctioned and it’s all in a good cause.

25th January '06 - Pampering Produces Pounds

A night of self-indulgence raised more than £250 for Peachtree Pre-School last week.

There was chocolate, beauty products, beauty services, jewellery and luxury products available, plus manicure, Indian head massage, reflexology and stalls selling a host of items with which to pamper yourself.

“We’d like to thank everybody who came,” said Peachtree’s Claire Bottoms.

25th January '06 - Fun Cow

The Dun Cow’s Winter Beer Festival will be great fun and it’s nearly here. It starts on the evening of Friday week, February 3, and runs for the whole weekend. There will be at least seven winter warming real ales and some draught ciders to tempt your taste buds and you can even drink them in a special Dun Cow Beer Festival glass!

And with those taste buds suitably limbered up, why not pop along to the pub on Wednesday, February 8, when there will be a wine tasting at which you can help choose the wines for the pub’s new wine list. On the following Wednesday, February 8, the Dun Cow is holding a Wine Tasting Evening in conjunction with S H Jones. There will be a selection of five red and five white wines from different areas. Spaces for this are limited so please book your place early. Tickets are £6 per head and the tasting begins at 7.30pm promptly.

25th January '06 - Sore Head

The Dun Cow dominoes team recorded a 10-6 win at The Stag's Head, Swalcliffe, last week.

The comprehensive victory was achieved by three wins each from the pairings of Jean Gibbins with Barbara Neville and Frank Jarrett with Martin Hemmings.

25th January '06 - The Eleventh Hour

Hornton Methodist Church holds its service this Sunday at 11am, January 29 - the same time at the Parish Church of St John the Baptist celebrates Holy Eucharist.

18th January '06 - Tempting Treats from Head to Toe

Indian head massage and reflexology will be just two of the treats ready to tempt you tonight, January 19, at the Peachtree Pre-School Indulgence Evening.

There will also be chocolate, beauty products, beauty services, jewellery, manicure and stalls selling a host of items with which to pamper yourself.

For an entrance fee of just £3, you can indulge yourself all night long! It’s all happening at 7.30pm in the Wroxton House Hotel and all profits will go to Peachtree.

18th January '06 - Stuff the Turkey

Still recovering from all that Yuletide fare? Then pop along to the Dun Cow tomorrow night, January 20, for an evening of cheap and cheerful food at a Bacon Sarni and Chip Butty Night.

Originally, the event was also going to be held on Saturday evening too but that has had to be cancelled because of large family celebration is now to be held in the pub.

And put two more dates in your diaries for next month. From the evening of Friday, February 3 until the following Sunday, you can sample seven delicious winter ales during the pub’s winter beer festival. You can even snap up a special festival beer glass to remember it by!

On the following Wednesday, February 8, the Dun Cow is holding a wine tasting Evening in conjunction with Banbury wine merchants S&H Jones. There will be a selection of five red and five white wines from different areas to be sampled but spaces for this event are limited, so please book your place early. Tickets are £6 per head and the tasting begins at 7.30pm promptly.

18th January '06 - Lights, Camera, Action

Most important of all for Hornton’s children this weekend, it’s action!

The Hornton Film Festival proper may still be more than a month away but preparations for it kick off this Sunday when a special children’s film afternoon is being staged in the pavilion from 2 to 4.30pm to make two films for the big event.

All children are welcome and festival organiser Pete Whitehead says that if the kids can bring along costumes and props for a space movie, that would be great. You can get more details by ringing him on 01295 670320.

And please put the date of March 11 in your diaries right now because a new clutch of the film world’s most prestigious awards - the Hornies - will be up for grabs in a never-to-be-forgotten night of cinematic creativity at the festival proper.

And - most important - you can take a big part by making a short film yourself.

“If you are thinking of making a film, please let me know,” says festival organiser Pete Whitehead.

“Following the experience of this year, there is now plenty of technical back-up available for anyone who needs it, so please don’t feel constrained by lack of experience or equipment.”

This year’s theme is music - but that’s about as broad as it could be. It could be a pop video, a film with a title suggested by a piece of music. In fact, anything that’s a gnat’s crotchet away from a musical theme will qualify. Even those films which people started making last year but were never completed will be welcome!

There’s only that one condition for entry - no film must be long than five minutes.

Maybe you’ve got a home video which you can set to music, or the kids can sing a song to camera. Every entry will be a contender for a Hornie!

And if you’d like to see the sort of films that we shown last year, then please ring Pete. For just £9.99 - with all profits going to the Pavilion Extension fund - he’s got a DVD of all last year’s entries.

“I’ve watched them again myself a few times already - and they are just as entertaining the second time around,” he says.

18th January '06 - Keep Talking

Articles for The Gossip, Hornton’s very own village newspaper, have to be in by January 31. So don’t delay - contact editors Julie Stanley and Ann Hemmings today! Julie is on 01295 670507 and Ann is on 01295 670511. Or you can email Ann on ann dot hemmings2 at orh dot nhs dot uk or Julie at julieharrystan at aol dot com

18th January '06 - Souper Trouper

You wouldn’t think that bowls of soup and crusty bread could raise so much, but Hornton’s Soup Saturday notched up as fantastic £315 for the Asian Earthquake appeal.

The event took place last weekend and thanks must go to everyone who helped, the generous donations of raffle prizes and, most of all, a big thank you to Ginny Britton whose original idea it was and who made the soup, which was…souper!

18th January '06 - Just a Week to Progress

There’s just one week to go to join Hornton’s next progressive dinner party!

This event - which has become one of the highlights of the village calendar - is back by public demand and, if you’ve never joined in before, don’t miss out this time. You’ll meet new people and you’ll be especially welcome if you’re new to the village or have never taken part before.

The format is simple. You can either opt to be hosts of guests. If you’re a host, you provide a three-course dinner with drinks for four other people. But it’s not the same four people, because they move round at the end of each course.

If you’re a guest, you move from house to house after each course and pay £25 to the hosts in the house you eat in at the end of the evening for all the food and drink. That’s split between JUMPA, Hornton and Horley's Jubilee fund for a multi-purpose play area, and the pavilion extension fund.

Excuses such as “I’m a single person” or “we haven’t got a dining room” just won’t wash. There’s plenty of room for everyone in a Hornton progressive dinner and you can have great food in the tiniest places!

So sign up for Saturday, February 11, now! You’ll find a form in the last edition of The Gossip - or you can just write your name and address on a piece of paper - and put it in the box next to the village notice board. The organisers just need to know whether you’d like to be a guest, a host or if you’re happy to be either.

18th January '06 - Prizes Please

Tickets for the glittering Hornton Ball are going very well - with more than half already snapped up. Now the organisers are appealing for exciting prizes to go into the raffle.

“We’ve got some big prizes but we’d like some small items which we can put together to go into hampers,” said joint organiser Carolyn Barker of Hornton.

There’s also going to be an auction of pledges. Do you have a skill which you could donate for a few hours? Are you an architect, a gardener, a motor mechanic, a whiz with the Hoover? Just about anything can be auctioned and it’s ll in a good cause.

If you can help, please call Carolyn on 01295 678553. She’s also the person to call if you’d like to come along on the night. The tickets are £35 each and before you think that’s a lot of money, just think how much a night out costs these days and how much you’ll get for your money at the Hornton Ball. There will be a live band and a delicious three-course meal. Dancing goes on to midnight and everyone’s going to have a great time.

18th January '06 - BettagotoBingo

Bingo will be held at the Pavilion on Friday week, January 27. Eyes down at 7.30pm and all proceeds will be go to the pavilion extension fund.

It will be the usual bingo format but with the addition of two extra specials with bumper prizes! Some have been promised but more are still needed.

If you can donate anything please contact either Sarah Walther on 01295 670627 or Ann Hemmings on 01295 670511.

18th January '06 - Fit Not Fat

If that promised New Year detox didn’t quite materialise, then Hornton’s got the solution for you! The village’s Keep Fit session takes place in the pavilion every Wednesday between 7 and 8pm. It’s suitable for everyone of any age and ability and new members are always welcome.

18th January '06 - Swing Along to Salsa

Join Caliente at Hornton Pavilion at 7.30pm on Saturday, February 25, for a Salsa Party Night. Ring Ann Hemmings now on 01295 670511 or Sarah Walther on 01295 670627 to book your place! Lisa Anscomb and her dance partner will demonstrate a stunning Salsa presentation to show how it’s performed.

Beginners will be especially welcome and the great thing is that you can have fun with Salsa as soon as you start learning. You don’t have to have any previous experience. Just come along, enjoy the music and soak up the ambience.

18th January '06 - Crumbs, Cribbers

The Dun Cow crib team are at the bottom of the league - without even playing a match! But don’t despair - you can do anything with statistics and although the Hornton cribbers have earned just six points from nine matches, the next seven teams in the 11-strong league have only got eight points from the same number. So it’s still all to play for as the Harbury and District Crib League moves into the second half of the season.

18th January '06 - Domino Effect

The Dun Cow’s dominoes team also lost in their latest match - an 11-5 defeat at home to The Lampet Arms, Tadmarten. They now have 16 points out of the 17 games played. The next game is away to The Stags Head, Swalcliffe.

18th January '06 - Leaves Drop In

The mobile library from Oxfordshire County Council will be on the village green next Wednesday from 10.55 to 11.30am.

18th January '06 - Godhead to Godhead

Hornton Methodist Church holds its service this Sunday at 11am, January 22 - the same time at the Parish Church of St John the Baptist celebrates Holy Eucharist.

18th January '06 - Lights Out

The money from the 6p a line from Hornton column of the Guardian won’t be needed for new Christmas lights after all because some new bulbs have been found and the existing set will last for several more years.

Another £270 came in just this week, so there’s now more than £400 available for worthy village causes, even after last week’s donation of £300 to the pavilion in honour of Eric Turner. If anyone can think of a worthy destination for the cash, please give your correspondent a call.

Correspondent - Roger Corke: Telephone: 01295 670673/ mobile: 07721 988977/ e-mail: roger dot corke at hornton dot org dot uk

14th January '06 - Message from Banbury Neighbourhood Watch

In the last 3 weeks there have been 21 car arsons throughout Banbury Sector. There is an incident room set up at Banbury Police Station to investigate. Can you please inform your members that it is important to be vigilant and report anything suspicious as soon as possible. Any information please contact DS Ian Hunter on 08458 505505. If the incident is immediate ring 999.

12th January '06 - Soup Saturday

There will be a delicious soup and crusty bread lunch at the Methodist Church this Saturday, January 14, from 12 noon until 2 pm in aid of the Asia Earthquake Appeal.

Money is still desperately needed to continue sending aid to the earthquake victims so please come along and join in if you can. There will be a traditional Hornton raffle, of course, plus a bring and buy stall.

12th January '06 - Please Slow Down for Moggies

Three cats have been killed on Millers Lane in recent months by cars going too fast. One poor Hornton resident has lost two, so please, please slow down. Next time it may be a child - and they only have one life, not nine.

12th January '06 - Indulge Yourself

Where can you indulge yourself all night long for an entrance fee of just £3? At an Indulgence Evening in aid of Peachtree Pre-School!

It’s all happening at 7.30pm on Thursday week, January 19, at the Wroxton House Hotel.

There will be chocolate, beauty products, beauty services, jewellery and luxury products available, plus manicure, Indian head massage, reflexology and stalls selling a host of items with which to pamper yourself.

12th January '06 - Indulge Yourself Again

After all that rich food over Christmas, what could be nicer than a bacon sarnie or a chip butty? That’s what’s on offer from 7pm at the Dun Cow on Friday week, January 20, in a cheap and cheerful evening of filling food.

Originally, the sarni and butty event was also going to be held on Saturday week but it’s now only for one night as there’s a big family celebration in the pub that night.

And put the weekend of February 3 in your diaries. From that evening for three days there will be seven ales to tantalise your taste buds in the Dun Cow’s Winter Beer Festival. Food will be available throughout the festival - as will special Hornton Beer Festival glasses.

Landlady Gwyneth Gelling also thanks everyone who came along with food to contribute to the Jacob’s Supper on New Year’s Eve.

“It was a magnificent spread, with a wide variety of food,” she said. “Thank you again for making it a most successful evening.”

12th January '06 - Chat Up

It’s time to put pen to paper again, as articles for The Gossip, Hornton’s very own village newspaper, have to be in by January 31. Practically anything that’s legal, decent, honest and truthful can find a place in The Gossip - news, reminiscences, recipes or even…gossip. So don’t delay - contact editors Julie Stanley and Ann Hemmings today! Julie is on 01295 670507 and Ann is on 01295 670511. Or you can email Ann on ann dot hemmings2 at orh dot nhs dot uk or Julie at julieharrystan at aol dot com

12th January '06 - You Will Go To The Ball

It’s going to be the social event of the Spring and it’s never too early to start brushing up your bow tie - or your dance steps!

It’s the Hornton Valentine’s Ball, which takes place at Banbury’s Whatley Hall Hotel on Saturday, February 18.

There will be an auction, a Grand Raffle with sensational prizes - anyone with ideas for exotic and unusual prizes, please call the organisers - and all proceeds will go to Hornton School.

The tickets are £35 each and before you think that’s a lot of money, just think how much a night out costs these days and how much you’ll get for your money at the Hornton Ball. There will be a live band and a delicious three-course meal. Dancing goes on to midnight and everyone’s going to have a great time.

So go on, sign up today - either individually or by making up a table of 10 or 12. Liz Hurst (01295 343556), Amanda Wray-Mitchell (01295 730402), Carolyn Barker (01295 678553) and Hilary Lidguard (01295 738258).

12th January '06 - Narrow Squeak

The Dun Cow dominoes team started the second half of the season with a narrow 9-7 win against The George Misfits. The pairings of Adrian Horsley and Richard Hillman, Martin Hemmings and Frank Jarrett won three games each.

12th January '06 - Church Services

Matins will be celebrated at 10.30am in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist this Sunday, January 15. The Methodist Church holds its service at 11am.

12th January '06 - In Memory of Eric

Since April 2003, the activities of the best and busiest village in Banburyshire have generated a staggering 130,000 words for the Hornton column. At 6p a line, that’s resulted in more than £1000 in being available for village causes.

There was one resident of Hornton who was more crucial than probably any other to the success of those activities and that was the late Eric Turner, so it seems only fitting that the latest donation, of £300, should go to the Pavilion Extension Fund in his memory.

During the coming year, the Hornton column will also be providing cash to buy new lights for the Christmas tree on the village green and hopefully some trees as well to grow on for future years.

4th January '06 - Progressive Dinner

Kick-start Hornton's 2006 social season by joining in the Progressive Dinner on February 11th! Everyone should be completely de-toxed and thin by then and ready to party again. Forms should be in the Village Post Box by Thursday 26th January. If you've mislaid your form from the pre-Christmas Gossip then simply find a piece of paper and on it put your name, address, telephone number, any dietary requirements, number of guests and whether you'd like to be guest, host or either. It doesn't matter if you are a single person or if you wish to include visitors - everyone's welcome.

4th January '06 - Litter Bugs

Unlike the Outside World, Hornton's always been a clean, green scene - but recently people who like mini Mars Bars, Strepsils, Crisps etc and canned drinks have decided they're too important to carry their rubbish to a bin and have taken to lobbing it over other people's walls or dropping it where they stand - or should that be play? Please be more considerate and clear up your own mess as the rest of us are getting fed up with clearing up behind you, or re-locate to some filthy fly-blown slum where you'll feel more at home. Thank you.

4th January '06 - Wedding Celebrations

Thank you to all our neighbours for being so patient during Dan and Lori's Wedding celebrations over Christmas. Sorry if you were disturbed by the music on Christmas Eve, the parking, or the comings and goings of trucks and lorries in our narrow neck of the woods. Thank you for all the wonderful Fairy Light displays - many of our guests expressed delight at the Village's display. Yes, I know they'd have been there anyway - but they added so much to the atmosphere! Sorry, and Thank you.

4th January '06 - Singers Hit a High Note

Hornton’s carol singers raised a record amount this Christmas. The 27 singers collected a stupendous £260 for cancer research on December 22 when they toured the village. Well done!

4th January '06 - Fit Not Fat

If your New Year’s resolution is to lose a few pounds after all that eating and drinking, then pop down to Hornton Pavilion next Wednesday - and every Wednesday - at 7pm. For that’s the time Keep Fit gets under way for an hour, so go on, be fit not fat!

4th January '06 - Be Pampered by Peachtree

Feeling a bit jaded after all those seasonal festivities? Well Peachtree pre-School has got just the thing for you! It’s holding a pamper evening on January 19 at the Wroxton House Hotel with all sorts of goodies to tempt you. So make it your New Year’s resolution to pop along. More details in the Guardian next week.

4th January '06 - Counting the Calories

And there’ll be lots of them at the Dun Cow’s Bacon Sarnie and Chip Butty nights! But that’s just what you’ll need after all that turkey and rich food, so see you in the pub on either Friday, January 20 or the following night.

4th January '06 - Moveable Feast

Hornton’s progressive dinner party is back - by popular demand.

So many people have asked what happened to the proposed October progressive dinner that the organisers - who are raising money for JUMPA and the pavilion - felt another month couldn’t go by without one.

The idea is simple. You’re either a guest or a host. If you’re a host, you provide a three-course dinner with drinks for four other people. But it’s not the same four people, because they move round at the end of each course.

If you’re a guest, you move from house to house after each course and pay £25 to the hosts in the house you eat in at the end of the evening. Excuses such as “I’m a single person” or “we haven’t got a dining room” just won’t wash. There’s plenty of room for everyone in a Hornton progressive dinner and you can have great food in the tiniest places!

So sign up for Saturday, February 11, now! You’ll find a form in the last edition of The Gossip - or you can just write your name and address on a piece of paper - and put it in the box next to the village noticeboard. The organisers need to know whether you’d like to be a guest, a host or if you’re happy to be either.

4th January '06 - Stictly Salsa

If you’ve put on weight over the holiday, dancing is a great way to shed them. And if you start practising your salsa, you’ll be ready for Salsa Party Night!

But don’t worry if you can’t dance a step because Caliente will show you how it’s done on the night - Saturday, February 25. Lisa Anscomb and her dance partner will demonstrate a stunning Salsa presentation and beginners will be especially welcome! The great thing is that you can have fun with Salsa as soon as you start learning. You don’t have to have any previous experience. Just come along, enjoy the music and soak up the ambience.

It all kicks off at 7.30pm in Hornton Pavilion and you can ring Ann Hemmings now on 01295 670511 or Sarah Walther on 01295 670627 to book your place!

4th January '06 - New Year, New Leaf

The mobile library from Oxfordshire County Council will be on the village green next Wednesday from 10.55 to 11.30am.

4th January '06 - Church Services

There’s a United Service to celebrate Holy Eucharist in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist this Sunday, January 7, at 11am.