Birdwatch - Jan 2023

Thank you to all those who took part in this years EWS birdwatch, which is run alongside the RSPB January count.

There were 28 different species identified in our gardens and the winner, returning to the top spot is ….. Blue Tit.  Previous winners have also been Chaffinch and Goldfinch.

The top 10 are listed together with the change from last year. 

Wood pigeons are now up to the second most popular and the house sparrow was spotted far more than in previous years. 

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a sparrowhawk this year but then again, this possibly meant there were more birds spotted!

Attached is a graph showing all those species where the numbers counted are more than 1% of the total.  

Wine Quiz - Nov 2022

After several years which have been affected by Covid it was great to be able to get together and have our AGM and Wine Quiz. 

As the St Thomas Church Hall was not available due to the issues with flooring, we moved the venue to East Woodhay Village Hall.  For the wine quiz there were 10 tables of about 8 people per table. 

Thanks to John Angle for superbly organising the wine and the associated descriptions which were then read and expanded upon by Clive Sanders, Amy White and Mark Rand.  Each team had to then guess which wine they were drinking and its price. 

Congratulations to the winning team, pictured here, of

Robert Pooles, Claire Spencer, Jacqui Meacham, Jo Meacham, Anna Goble, Justin Simms, Melanie Leando and Kim Boog.

Christmas Walk - Dec 2022

On 27th December, the 38th Christmas Village Walk welcomed close to 150 walkers and raised a record breaking £1,630 for local charity Loose Ends. Donations on the day raised £630 and this year Centrica plc supported the walk by donating an additional £1,000.

The walk started at the Red House pub in Highclere and the 4 mile route took ramblers through the beautiful Hampshire countryside. Halfway, in East End, walkers were offered free refreshments including warm mince pies sponsored by the East Woodhay Society and mulled wine sponsorship by the Highclere Society, before returning through Hollington back to the pub. 

Thanks to Nicola Meadows and Alistar Mitchel for organising this lovely walk.

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Picnic in the Park

Locally we made our own special memories and thank you to everyone who came along on Sunday 5th June to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Picnic in the Park in Woolton Hill.  We estimate that there were over 500 there.  I have received many comments about how it was wonderful to have a cheerful event where people could just catch up with others and have a good time.

Although it could have been warmer, we were extremely fortunate with the weather that it did not start raining until just after all the gazebos and chairs had been put away.  Indeed, a couple of days before, the weather forecast was so bad that we wondered if it was going to be a washout. So, we certainly counted our blessings.

Many were involved in the planning and for supporting East Woodhay Society committee in making the event a success.  Working with Rev Christine Dale and Angie Maxwell, it was great to dovetail with the civic service at St Thomas Church earlier on the day. 

Thanks on the day to:

·       Spectrum for sponsoring an excellent hog roast which actually fed 370 rather than the expected 200

·       Music was provided by East Woodhay Silver Band and Newbury Rock Choir and both really captured the mood of the day

·       Steve Waite for the ice creams which sold out

·       Sports Club who provided short tennis coaching for children

·       ….. and whoever organised the extremely low flypast by the Chinook.