The newsletter relies on several sources of income; one of which is advertising. Do you have access to a pc and can you spare a couple of hours a month to organise and co-ordinate the advertisers, send invoices and ensure the income is received?

So what's involved?

Well, we have about 60 regular or semi regular advertisers; most of whom repeat their bookings for 6 issues each year. We have all the information collated in a spreadsheet and it would probably be easiest if you could continue to use this method.

Don't worry about the 'correct' software; everything relating to this task can be achieved with free software so if you don't have it now; we can supply it very easily.

If you can help with this, please let Helen or Andy know. Thank you.

It seems a long time since the Spring Show at the beginning of April but it was a delightful village occasion, well supported by members and visitors. St. Peter's Church looked beautiful with the sun streaming through the windows on the great display of Spring flowers. The prize winners were;

Also in April we had an entertaining and practical talk by Hilary Twigg from Pershore College on pruning fruit trees and shrubs. June and July is when we take advantage of the light evenings to visit other people's gardens. In June we visit Grange Farm Evenlode, the home of Sir John and Lady Airds. We meet outside the Sun Inn at 7pm for car sharing and the cost will be £2.50. On 16 July we meet at 6.30pm at the Sun Inn for a visit to Stone House Wyck Rissington at the invitation of Mr & Mrs Lukas at a cost of £4 per person. The day visit by coach to Hatfield House and Gardens on Sunday 21 September will cost £18 for members and £20 for non-members. If you have not reserved a seat please phone Malcolm Black.

Our April meeting, the first in our new year, was a great success. We welcomed several new members and hope to have more at our next meeting, which is a talk on the History of Morris Dancing on 20^th May.

We realise that one group of women in the village will find it difficult to join us; those who have young children at school. If you would like to come to our meetings, it is possible for us to retime by having a ploughman's lunch, our meeting and then the Speaker at 2.00pm. This will allow mothers to get away by 3.00pm to meet their children.

Would those of you who would like to do this please telephone me or Alrys Morris to register your interest?

Our meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month at the Baptist Church Hall at 2.00pm. Visitors are very welcome.

21^st September is the annual Peace Day and this year it falls on a Sunday.

The official website of this organization is www.peaceoneday.org where you will find information. The suggested focus this year is on One Day One Goal to celebrate cooperation, unity and the power of football to bring people together on Peace Day, 21^st September. Please contact me (olwen@rmplc.co.uk) if you have any ideas about how we mark this day or if you would like to be involved in any event to raise consciousness about this global movement.

Did you know that North Oxfordshire Guild of Weavers Spinners & Dyers is to be re-named Cotswold Guild of Weavers Spinners & Dyers and still meets in Hook Norton Baptist Schoolroom on the third Tuesday of each month at 7-30pm? We change the evening meeting to an all day Saturday workshop during the winter months and also have other productive spinning days all through the year.

The group started meeting in Hook Norton in the 1970s and was founded by Jean (Williams) Cleare. It is for this reason that we hope the residents of Hook Norton feel able to take an interest in our Guild.

At the Tuesday meetings we usually have a speaker who relates the joys of being creative through the medium of threads and fabrics. This includes aspects of spinning, weaving, dying, felting, knitting and many more interesting topics within the textile world. If you wish to visit us or perhaps become a member of the Guild phone Joan Spittlehouse or drop in during one of our meetings.

We preserve the past for the Future

Did you or a family member work at the Bliss Tweed Mill?

As a group we are about to embark in producing a book with stories and tales of the towns people that worked at the Mill in the past. For this we require help from everyone that took part with pieces of information. Please if you would like to take part by giving us a story or at least your name so that it can be added to a list that will appear within the book it would be greatly appreciated.

Family members, term of employment together with job title and any special items you can remember are what we are looking for plus photographs.

To take part please address an envelope to Mrs. Maureen Shepherd, Bliss Mill Project, Manchester House, (House Door) 5 Market Place, Chipping Norton Oxfordshire OX7 5NA. Post or pop through the letter box when next passing or send an email to sheiladunc@tiscali.co.uk

If further help is required contact Peter email p.tyrrell310@btopenworld.com

The honey bee in the UK is in decline and stocks are being hit both by disease and the so called ‘Marie Celeste’ or ‘Colony Collapse’ syndrome where hives are found empty of bees……we need to save the honey bee and you can play your part!

May and June are the peak months of the year when the bees swarm (although they can swarm into July and August also) and you may find a clump of between 10,000 – 30,000 bees hanging in your garden or elsewhere and wonder what to do with it. ………If you do, don’t worry or panic, the bees are good natured when swarming and are very unlikely to sting you…...!

If you find a swarm you could help a local beekeeper who has lost 4 out of his 5 colonies this last winter rebuild his stocks……so if you do happen to see a swarm, please phone one of the numbers below and he will collect it and re-home it……… 07754 181718 (daytime) or 01608 737625 (evenings)

With summer upon us, there’s a chance to enjoy the Solstice Eve with all your pals from school. Join us please for a Family Barbeque Evening on Friday 20th June, 5.30 - 7.30pm. It’s at school, with the Chipping Norton Jazz Band and a Pimms Bar contributing to the languid, easy-going atmosphere.

And there’s something on the way just for the grown-ups. Dave Newman's band 'No Tools Required' will be the star attraction for the FOHNS Autumn Gig on Saturday 13th September, complete with licensed bar and a hot supper. So please put the date in your diary.

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard for FOHNS over the past few months. You will be glad to know that we have had a number of successes.

The Easter Bunny Hunt raised £100 and was great fun, with lots of children spotted around the village taking part in the search.

The Car Boot & Bike Sale – a very popular event – raised £400 with around 30 bikes sold. It turned out to be a nice day. Having made the decision to host it inside due to forecast showers, we found that the threatened deluge did not occur.

Finally, we made £400 at the Wine Tasting & Tapas Evening – a great event in which those involved sampled eight different wines and various tapas dishes.

So, please continue to support our events and contact the School Office if you can help us with organisation of event.

As usual, we have had an extremely active time, but looking forward to a nice dry, warm summer so that we can make the most of our summer meetings out of doors!

This is always a funny time of year for the guides, we meet on a Monday and every other week seems to be a Bank Holiday!

Right at the beginning of the two week Easter holiday, 8 of the guides and Megan (our young leader), took part in Cherwell Spectacular, which is a guiding show including rainbows, brownies, guides and rangers from the Cherwell Division. Our group did a number of songs from the Sound of Music, which went down extremely well, with many positive comments from parents and friends.

We started this term off with the annual village litter pick. Both of the Hook Norton Brownie units joined the guides and we managed to cover the majority of the village, collecting the rubbish off the streets - the girls thoroughly enjoyed taking part and particularly enjoyed the drinks and doughnuts at the end of the litterpick! Good to see about 50 uniformed girls walking around the village doing such a great task.

Last Monday, we took them to the climbing wall at Bloxham School, which they thought was great fun - it was the first time that they had been to this one, but I don't think it will be the last time!

The next few weeks will be spent preparing for our camp at the end of May - outdoor cooking, tent pitching, making gadgets, packing their bed rolls and generally doing lots of fun outdoor activities - watch this space for the write up for the next newsletter on our camp!

Guides is for girls aged 10 and over, please contact me if your daughter may be interested in starting - she can come along and visit us to see what we do before joining if she likes.

Youth Club recently went on two trips. First we went to Drayton Manor Park and then to Wembley Stadium.

Both trips were fantastic. The kids were all brilliant, as usual.

For Drayton Manor, we picked a perfect day. The sun was shining and as it was only an inset day from school in our area, the park was quite empty. This meant the kids could go on as many rides as they liked, time and time again, with no queues. Within minutes they braved the ’Apocalypse’, then the ‘Maelstrom’ and most didn’t wait to get wet on ‘Stormforce 10’. We weren’t that brave, so hit the new ‘Thomas Land’. Even the rides in there were scary!!! After a super day, we arrived home, excited about our next trip to Wembley Stadium.

The following Friday, we all got back on the coach and headed for London. As we got closer, it was amazing to see the arch of Wembley Stadium in the distance. Our tour commenced at 12.45pm. Firstly we were shown the corporate boxes. These ranged from £60,000 to £270,000 per year, so we booked four!!! We then headed to the changing rooms where the kids had their photo’s taken with the England Players shirts, held the FA Cup, then the dugouts and pitch. We couldn’t go on the pitch unfortunately. This is mowed twice a day and takes four hours each time. We did buy some Wembley Grass seed for our football pitch at ‘The Sports and Social Club’. This will please Billy Green! Our last stop was to see the fantastic bronze statue of ‘Bobby Moore’. This was commissioned by Wembley Stadium, as a tribute to the career and life of this England legend. A must see. The kids then hit the Wembley store, before heading back to the coach for home. Can we say a massive ‘Thank You’, to ALL the kids for being SO well behaved, we even had a comment from a Wembley Man about our good behaviour, so well done you!, to ALL the Mums and Dads for trusting us with your kids and spending lots of money for us to do this and last, but definitely not least, to the Charitable Association for giving us £250 towards our trips. We really appreciate it. Look out for future Youth Club dates on our website at hooknortonsportsandsocialclub.co.uk and click on Youth Club. New members welcome aged between 11 and 16.

Calls – So far this year we have answered 59 calls at Hook Norton, we have attended 30 Standbys for Banbury & Chipping Norton, 13 False alarms, 2 Chimney Fires, 3 Road Traffic Collisions at Swerford & Hook Norton at all of which we had to release the casualties from their cars using our hydraulic cutting equipment, the air ambulance also attended 1 incident. We’ve also had a roof fire @ Milcombe, house fires in Banbury & Bruern, an electrical box @ Tadmarton, a beam on fire at South Newington, a fire involving brakes on a train at Banbury Station, a chemical leak at Chipping Norton Leisure Centre, where the pupils found it entertaining watching Hooky’s crew walking around in giant green chemical suits and finally on a happier note we rescued a donkey who became stuck in mud at Great Rollright.

Recruitment – Did you miss our recruitment evening last month??

If you did or you’re interested in joining us then you can call the recruitment line on 0800 587 0870. You could give cover at different times of the day or night; you get paid for being on call and for all calls attended & training. You need to be over 18, reasonably fit & live or work within 5 minutes of the station. If you would like an informal chat, call Ivor Matthews on 07967 317820 or call in at the station on a Wednesday night between 7pm – 9pm

Scrap Cars – Do you have a scrap car?? If so we can take away your car for free, to continually refresh our training and to make it as realistic as possible we will use it to practice releasing injured casualties from cars namely we need to crush the car first to simulate a crash then cut the doors & roof off, smash the windows, generally wreck it!! It’s amazing what 10 firefighters can do with a car in less than 30 minutes!! We will then make sure it is disposed of safely!! Contact Ivor Matthews on 07967 317820

Parking – Can we remind all drivers to park sensibly as we have had on odd occasions asked people to move to ensure that we can get through. Think - can a fire engine, ambulance or police car get through, also remember not to park on hydrants – your help is much appreciated.

365 Ride for 365 Alive – On Friday 6^th June a team of firefighters from Oxfordshire will be calling at the Fire Station to raise awareness of the 365 Alive campaign they are riding 365 miles around the county calling at every fire station and raising money for the Firefighters charity (Formerly Fire Service Benevolent Fund) for more information visit www.365alive.co.uk you can also find out more about the 365 pledge.

Fire Safety – We have recently visited the Key Stage 1 classes at Sibford Gower & Hook Norton Primary School to promote fire safety in the home, ensure every child knows what to do in the event of a fire, not to play with matches and most importantly that every home has a smoke detector!! The children also had the opportunity to have a tour of the fire engine. Apologies to Hazel & Aileen in the school office for disturbing them when 60 children wanted to know how the siren works!! If you would like more information on fire safety in the home or for a Free Home Safety Check call 0800 0 325 999

Goodbye’s – Sadly we said goodbye to Gary Brown & Tim Rudd who have left the station – Thank you for all your cover over the years from the crew.

Betty White phoned on 23rd March to say that she had seen two or three male and female Bramblings in the last week. She has seen male and female Yellowhammers, also one Pied Wagtail which she has seen during the winter months for the last three years. Four Buzzards were seen over the East End on 26th March. In this area since there have been almost daily sightings of one or two Buzzards. Margaret Bloomfield in Osney Close saw a pair of Buzzards floating around above them on 2nd May at about 3.30pm, with Jackdaws harrassing them and they just swept out of the way and soared around looking absolutely beautiful.

On 28th March Richard Wheelton who lives in Hollybush Road, was upstairs in his office when he heard a screeching commotion, when he looked out of his window he saw a female Sparrowhawk with its wings spread out with a male Blackbird pinned down on its back and screeching. He went downstairs into the garden and got within three feet of the birds hoping that the hawk would fly off and leave the Blackbird, whereupon it took off carrying the bird in its talons. Another person saying that regrettably he did not have a camera to hand, but as we know it is much better to have the memory through ones own eyes than a photo taken with a camera. Warren Morris who lives in Orchard Road had a female Goldcrest flitting around in the Birch tree right outside their front window on 6th April. He says that it was a treat to get such a close view for such a long time - his comment was that "it made his day" as it is the first time he has ever seen this bird.

The first person to see a Swallow in the village was Cheryl Woodward at 10.45am on 6th April looking down Bell Hill - ironic really as there was snow on the ground! Linda Wong saw a Swallow from her kitchen window in Hollybush on 9th April. The next one seen was by Jo and Gary Parker on the evening of 23rd April in their courtyard flying about and they said "what a lovely and welcome sight - summer is on the way". I am really pleased you all contacted me, thank you.

On 28th April Vivien Lee in Down End had a female Goldcrest right outside their window flying up against it and was not at all bothered by their presence. It spent a lot of time there over two days and they said that they felt very lucky they could see her so clearly and for so long. She also reported the first House Martin on 26th April in the morning. The first Swift was seen over the East End on 4th May. I have not had any reports of a Cuckoo - has anyone seen or heard one around Hooky? We were very lucky to have a Whitethroat flitting along our back hedge and singing on 5th May.

Two Heron were seen on 25th March and one on 31st March flying over the fields in the East End, a single Lapwing on 15th April, a Bullfinch on 7th May, and three Mallard Ducks on 8th May.

Single Red Kites have been seen by Helen Burchell flying over the village early week commencing 5th May and by Tim Burchell at around 9.00am on 9th May over the middle of the village and Linda Wong on 11th May at about 5.40pm circling over the properties in the East End - what an excellent week. Tim Burchell also saw a pair of Ravens behind the allotments.

On 27th March a Brimstone Butterfly was seen in a garden in East End, on 30th March after Church Marianne Joyce saw a Brimstone by the playground. Other Butterflies seen are Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, an Orange Tip on 15th April and for many days recently Holly Blue, a very small blue Butterfly.

We had a Fox in our back garden on 2nd April, and another one was seen on 9th April and last but by no means least Aileen Watson in The Bourne has this last week seen a Hedgehog which is very noisy and has a big nest in a very protected area of her garden.

A big thank you to those of you who have been in touch, please let me know about your sightings.

I was so sad to learn that my neighbour and one of my dearest friends, Mrs Grace French passed away suddenly on the 26^th April.

She was the most wonderful neighbour and generous, caring person anyone could meet. She was one of the reasons that made living in Hook Norton special and I’m sure everyone who knew Grace will miss her terribly. I send Mike, and the rest of Grace’s family, my deepest condolences at their loss of such an amazing lady.

For anyone having a summer fete or garden party, Barton-on-the-Heath village fete committee is willing to lend its traditional fete games in exchange for a small donation to its own fete funds. Available to local groups are 'milk the cow', 'treasure island', splat the rat', 'roulette', and others - all great fun for children and adults. Ring Maggie Pettifer if you would like to come and see the games we have available on all dates except 5 July - our own fete.

INFORMATION & ACTIVITY FAIR

Wednesday 25th June 2008 - The Town Hall, Chipping Norton

Following the success of the Witney Information Fair held last April and the successful Burford & Witney Information Fairs held in April and May this year, Age Concern Oxfordshire, City & County will be running an Information & Activity Fair aimed at the over 50’s in the Town Hall in Chipping Norton on Wednesday 25th June from 10am to 2.30pm.

The event will cover a whole range of issues of importance to older people, to carer‘s and family members: health, independence, safety, leisure, transport, finance and much more, with professionals from many different organisations on hand to give information and advice first hand.

There will be range of Free Exercise Taster sessions throughout the day and a short talk on Men’s Health at 11.30 am. In addition, free refreshments will be provided and there will be a chance to enter a Free Prize Draw.

The 2008 Ride and Stride will take place on 13^th September.

Last year, the County Result was another record year, with the Stride raising £100,476 and Gift Aid bringing in a further £12,614, making a total of £113,090.

Full details of this year's event, including details of how to register for sponsors on line with Justgiving.com can be found on the OHCT website – www.ohct.org

Sponsor forms and lists of Churches to visit will be available from July and the 2008 poster will appear in the August Newsletter.

Once again the Macmillan Coffee morning will be held on Friday 26th September 2008, at the Study Centre, at Hook Norton School, 9am - 11.30am. Please put the date in your diary now and then nearer the time I will be requesting raffle prizes and cakes to go with the coffee that will be on sale. If you are able to spare a few hours to help me, I would be very grateful too.
I have been running the Macmillan Coffee Morning since 1996. At the beginning it was very informal, in my house for family and friends. Thank you to all who have supported me at these events - some of you I am sure have attended/supported every one! The total we have raised at these coffee mornings is a staggering £8,001.69p. Many, many thanks for helping to raise such a huge amount of money for such a good cause. PLEASE do join me again this year.

PROCEEDS FOR BANBURY’S BRODEY CENTRE APPEAL

The Rotary Club of Banbury Cherwell are pleased to announce this years beneficiary of monies raised from Beer Festival and Family Fun Day will be the Brodey Centre Appeal in Banbury. The August bank holiday Beer Festival is to be held on Monday 25^th August at Banbury Cricket Club, Bodicote.

The Brodey Centre is a cancer out-patent department at the Horton Hospital in Banbury. Since the opening in 1998 the Brodey Centre has seen some 2,000 patients per annum who have benefited from having outpatient cancer chemotherapy treatment in Banbury. The Centre needs more space for patients and they are hoping to double the treatment space. The proposed 60 sq m extension will cost £300,000 including furnishing and equipment.

“We hope to go some way towards helping them achieve their goals,” explains Chris Humphris, event organiser and Rotary Club of Banbury Cherwell member. He goes onto say: “Last year’s Beer Festival saw a fantastic turn out and was an outstanding family day event, we hope to build on the success at this year’s festival. We are also keen to share the benefit of this platform with other local charities so they can exhibit on the day and raise awareness for their causes.”

The Beer Festival and Family Fun day event will include live music from Radio Horton and a local band, fairground rides, bouncy castle, pig roast, fir tree falconry, junior five-aside football, under 13 cricket six-a-side and charity stalls including Guide Dogs for the Blind

with various other side stalls.

The Rotary Club of Banbury Cherwell has a number of spaces for stalls available free to charities who wish to exhibit at this years ‘Beer Festival’ – please contact Chris Humphris.

Chris concludes: ”There are also opportunities for local businesses to sponsor beer barrels for the day and we have already received strong interest in the young people’s cricket and football events.”

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU..

to everyone who worked so hard to make our fashion show a success.

• The School for letting us use their hall;
• The models for letting us do whatever we felt like to their hair and for wearing clothes not necessarily their style! Weren't they absolutely fantastic! Anyone would think they were professionals. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
• To Jo, Jill, Ruth and Jo B for all your hard work behind the scenes.

Mostly though, thank you to everyone who gave us their money towards Katharine House. The total raised that evening was a massive £1,082.07 – brilliant!! and so worthwhile.

I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did.

For me and my canoeing partner, Grunt (Michael Punter), the Easter weekend had been months of strategic planning and training to compete in the Devizes to Westminster international canoe race - there was such a build up to it and to suddenly be in Devizes on Good Friday was quite a shock, with the thought of 125 miles and 77 portages ahead of us.

The weather, as you all know, was horrendous - I don't think anyone would have wished that upon us. We started with snow at Devizes, which continued throughout the weekend, on and off, but with the wind, rain and flow on the river all added to quite bad conditions to paddle in. At Sonning, the waves were 2 foot high - we were riding up and then down them and then they were splashing on top of us both! At this point many of the boats seemed to be going backwards, but we ploughed on through and by the time we got to Marsh and then the Henley straight, we realised that we could tackle anything that was thrown at us! Which was just as well! By Henley, we had gone through yet another snow/hail storm and coming under Henley Bridge most of the crews decided to get out of their boats and carry them for the mile and a half along the bank - we dug in and battled with the wind and waves and managed to overtake many of the crews. In fact, although Saturday was our hardest day to contend with the weather, it was our best day as far as paddling went and we also thoroughly enjoyed it!

On Sunday, we were so pleased to see other club members join us as a support crew - they had very kindly leant us their carbon kevlar toucan, which we are extremely grateful for and then to support us was an added bonus. During the day, we had more people join the support crew and by the time we got to Teddington, there were 5 cars and 13 people cheering us over the line! By this time, we knew that although there was only 17 miles to go, it may well be the hardest 17 miles to do! We stayed the night locally, in order to get up at 2.45am to catch the tide that day. When we arrived at Teddington, there was an inch of ice on the bottom of the boat before we even started! The start was to be a mass one, quite nerve wracking - we all had our head torches on and it was like a scene from Disneyland, it was so magical as we circled around waiting for the start at 5.45am. The last day was also tougher than we expected, it was a 17 mile trek down the Thames, not only was it the last section but it also gave us a tour of London from the Thames, which was quite fun. People say that you can sometimes get hallucinations, and yes I did! I saw 5 London Eyes, but apart from the real one the other were cranes, trees and a cloud!! When we turned the last corner, we could see big Ben, the "real" London Eye and could hear the cheering from the crowds of people. We knew we were there, as we crossed the line, Big Ben struck 7.45 am.

The whole experience was an amazing one - it was totally exhausting, both mentally and physically and to keep your body going for a full four days was truly testing.

I would like to thank all my friends and family who supported me and sent best wishes before, during and after the event - without these words of encouragement and also the sponsorship money that people have pledged, it would have been so easy to give up.

My mother's friend was diagnosed with Myeloma 2 years ago and so I decided to raise money for for this charity. So far I have raised £895, so thank you to all of you who have sponsored me from the last Hook Norton Newsletter.

On behalf of my friend Marathon Pint, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone for your support and generous donations leading up to the London Marathon. April 13^th was an amazing day - the atmosphere was unbelievable. I am ashamed to say that we were beaten by a womble and a Cornish pastie but we made friends with a rhino and a toilet on the way round and we beat the Maasai warriors and the London Pride pint (Hook Norton beer IS best). There were definitely some highs and lows - the first 15 miles were great fun, miles 18 - 26 were not, and crossing the finishing line to the music from Chariots of Fire was a moment I shall never forget!!

Sadly The Pint did not live to tell the tale! He made it to the finishing line and then helped himself to the medal, claiming that he had finished one second before me in 4 hours, 20 minutes and 43 seconds. His head really was getting far too big and this is never good for a pint of beer. His demise can be viewed on YouTube – search for Marathon Pint and you’ll find it! (Or just follow this link! Ed.) This may not be the last you see of him though – read the full story on www.marathonpint.co.uk

On a more serious note, it really is an incredible experience to be taking part in an event with so many thousands of people raising money for good causes. I ran the marathon for all the people whose lives have been touched by leukaemia but particularly for Harry and Victoria. Although, sadly, I never knew either of them, their memories are very much alive within the village and the amount of money that has been raised by the people of Hook Norton over the last 22 years is a testament to that. My total sponsorship is now up to over £6,600 with more still to come in. This brings the total raised for Leukaemia Research by the village to over £203,000!! Tens of thousands have also been raised for CLIC Sargent (Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood).

Whilst I was training for the race I made a new friend – Emma Mortimer. Emma was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was 6 weeks old.

Today, she is a happy, healthy 5-year-old. This is due to the dedication of doctors and research scientists and the generosity of people like you. So let’s not stop raising money until every story of leukaemia has a happy ending like Emma’s.

There are still a few days left to donate so if anyone hasn’t got round to it yet, please visit our Just Giving site – www.justgiving.com/MarathonPint - every penny really does make a difference!

"I would like to thank all those that kindly put their hands in their pockets and donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust by sponsoring me to attempt the summit of the infamous Mt. Kilimanjaro of Tanzania Africa.

A challenge I took up for two reasons.... I felt I needed a challenge to keep myself focused and secondly Carla, now a great friend who I met last summer. Carla, a sufferer of the disease CF, inspired me to look at life more positively and it hit me hard hearing how her life will be cut so short.

So Kilimanjaro it was!!...... This now extinct volcano is one of the largest volcanoes on the planet and is the highest freestanding mountain in the world at 5895m above sea level. Its snow and ice capped peak stands tall over Africa and is somewhat different from the base which is tropical and lush with fruits and vegetation.

I embarked on this 7 day trek on the 14th of March with the hope of making the summit. After 4 long days and one long night 14 out of our 16 managed to reach the summit including myself. This is, and probably will be the hardest thing I will ever achieve. I find it very difficult especially with "my vocabulary" to describe just how difficult day 5 is (the night stage) which I thought was never going to end. Not only are we suffering from exhaustion but we face cold temperatures, altitude makes breathing very difficult as oxygen levels decrease by about 50%, and this has some awfully painful affects on the body.

What I can say is without the support from Hook Norton and all the kind words of encouragement I would not have made it. The final few hours were the most emotional of my life to date and the only way for myself I felt I could carry on was by thinking of how everyone in Hook Norton believed in me and lets face it I don't think I could of come back to work had I not made it!

So once again I would love to say thank you so much for supporting me I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. It means a lot to me and anyone who suffers from CF.

I would also like to say a thank you to Ramsay Dunning who provided me with a high quality sleeping bag, Diana Walker who kindly let me borrow some trekking Poles!!......I would also like to thank Hook Norton Post Office, the Village Shop, and Salon 2 who all helped generate more sponsors!

I must also thank Hook Norton Baptist church for helping me fundraise over £600 back in February on our "Just Desserts" evening and all the ladies who kindly gave up their own free time to make cups of tea! And especially those that dedicated their time to performing that evening. And none more so than Howard and Rosemary Searle who dedicated much of their time and money into organising such a fantastic evening!!....

For anyone having read this article that would like to make a donation you can still do so either online at: www.justgiving.com/supportcysticfibrosis or alternatively leave a donation at the Post Office counter sealed in an envelope marked CF TRUST with your name and address on. Cheques made payable to: "CF TRUST" OR .....see me in person by coming along to the slide show on Thursday 5th of June at the Baptist Church.

Thank you very much!!

- BUMPER BOOK AND PLANT SALE

After the deluge of last year’s Friends of Hook Norton Library Book and Plant Sale, Saturday’s event was idyllic. Crowds of book lovers thronged outside the Library, warmed by sunshine and the sound of Fiddlebop’s music while the aroma of coffee from the Font Café drifted over the stalls. The plant stall added another dimension to an almost French village scene.

Altogether £405 was raised, £137.50 of which will go to Book Aid to purchase books for Third World Countries.

Our thanks go to

• the Brewery for storing the books prior to the sale
• Tom at the shop, the Pottery and the Brewery for the Raffle prizes
• the Baptist Hall, the Church and the Brewery for tables
• Fiddlebop [alias Dave and Jo and Roger] for music
• the Font Café for refreshments
• Mrs. Orchard and her class for the outside banner
• the committee and their family members for their great Team effort
• Janet, the Librarian for her good-humoured help

AND, most importantly of all………

Everyone who came and supported us and made it such an enjoyable morning.

Reminders from Janet for future events in the Library:

Rhymetime for 1-3 year olds on the following Mondays

2^nd June, 30^th June and 28^th July at 2.00-2.30pm

Storytime for 4-7 year olds

TBA in Summer Holidays

Library Opening Hours ….

for sitting and reading magazines & newspapers, ordering and borrowing books, CDs and DVDs/using the internet or simply catching up with other people…..….

Monday	2.00-5.00	6.00-7.00
Wednesdays	2.00-5.00
Fridays	2.00-5.00	6.00-7.00
Saturdays	9.30-12.30

That was the distance travelled by Steve Rooney on his fund raising bike ride from Lands End to John o' Groats.

Starting in bright sunshine on 6th May, Steve's route took in the rolling hills of Cornwall and on the second day, the more daunting climbs of Dartmoor.

He then continued over the Somerset levels, through Cheddar and over the Mendips into Bristol, before crossing the Severn Bridge into Wales. The next day took him to Shrewsbury via Monmouth and Hereford, and then on through Cheshire and Lancashire. Day 6 presented the beauty of the Lake District and a stiff climb over Shap Fell before finishing in Carlisle. A long days ride through the Southern Uplands followed, before he took the ferry over the Firth of Clyde to Dunoon in Argyll. The next 3 days were spent cycling through the stunning scenery of the Highlands, taking in Loch Ech, Loch Fyne, Loch Awe, Loch Linnhe, Loch Lochy and finally Loch Ness. Here, Steve discovered there really was a Loch Ness Monster, in the form of a huge hill at Drumnadrochit. This was the most difficult climb of the whole ride. The reward was a night spent in the spectacular Carbisdale Castle, followed by a days ride over the bleak peat moors of Sutherland. The twelfth and final day's ride was along the beautiful North coast of Scotland into a strong headwind, before reaching John o' Groats, exhausted but happy.

So far, over £300 has been pledged to help fund Hook Norton Playgroup, but if anyone would like to make a donation, please contact the play group direct on 01608 730560.