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Waddesdon Halloween

Round & About

October 24, 2019October 24, 2019

Photo: Adam Hollier, National Trust, Waddesdon Manor

Make time this half-term to follow the ghosts of Waddesdon along terrifying trails, carve a pumpkin or sink your fangs into some ghoulish treats.

Throughout October half-term (Saturday, 26th October to Sunday, 3rd November) Waddesdon will host the living and the dead with a range of spooky activities and tasty treats daily from 10am to 3pm.
Join a terrifying trail if you are brave enough to complete The Dread Book. Let the trail tell you a tale of terror on Miss Alice’s Drive, perhaps you’ll spot a ghost or two – £3 per child.

Try your hand at the traditional Halloween craft of pumpkin carving from 26th October to 1st November. Perform a post-mortem on a pumpkin and take it home to light the way – £5 per pumpkin.

Tuck into a spooky afternoon tea during the week and indulge in some terrifying treats at the Manor Restaurant with a delicious spooky snake, ghost meringue and an eyeball cupcake. Adults £22.50, children £15.50 or add some sparkle to your tea for £27 adults.

When half term is out the way, Waddesdon steps into Christmas mode from Saturday, 16th November until Sunday, 5th January. Displays in the house this year explore the connection to the world of music with a festive twist, from carols to Christmas hits. The gardens will be illuminated with sparkling lights and colour.

For information

For information and to book for any of these events

Click here

Didcot Food Festival

Round & About

October 24, 2019October 24, 2019

Enjoy great food & drink, fantastic cookery demos and magic at this year’s Didcot Food Festival on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th October.

Didcot Food Festival, now in its fourth year, has proved so popular that this year the event will cover two days. Held in the Didcot Civic Hall, which offers indoor space for over 50 artisan traders, the Kid’s Kooking Zone, Chef’s Theatre and Vintage Tea Room.

The show opens at 10.30 am on the 26th by the time-travelling magical duo Morgan and West who will combine an act of magic and a love of food. Rhys Morgan says: “Our opening at this year’s Didcot Food Festival will be ‘bafflemint’ mixed with a hint of amazement and a generous dollop of laughter. We can’t give away too much; a good magic trick is like a good joke and ruined if you let the punchline out of the bag too early. So, to enjoy our opening act, you will just have to ensure you are part of the crowd and see what it is all about.”

Other Oxfordshire chefs lined up to amaze the audience with their culinary skills are old favourite Nick Bennett who reached the final of MasterChef The Professionals in 2015. Nick has a way of creating fine dining dishes look so simple, but we all know it takes a lot of technical skill to produce the type of food for which Nick is known for. Other chefs include Joe McCarthy from the award-winning Wychwood Inn at Shipton-under-Wychwood. Joe takes simple ingredients and turns them into memorable and very tasty dishes. John Van Nielerk from the newly opened Hilton Garden Inn in Abingdon which will be showcasing something fishy: the hotel’s restaurant has a Mediterranean influenced menu, but John also adds a hint of South African flavours to his food, drawing on dishes from his homeland. We will also gain an insight into some of the food produced by the chefs at The Circle Hospital in Reading.

For lovers of Thai food, Nawamin Pinpathomrat, the post-graduated research doctor who reached the final of the 2018 MasterChef will be cooking a splendid crab dish inspired by flavours from Thailand combined with Cornish crab.

Organiser of the Chef’s Kitchen, former Great British Bake Off quarter finalist Christine Wallace will give a fun demonstration with Howard Middleton who also appeared in Series 4 of GBBO. Together they will show off their baking skills adding a huge amount of laughter and amusement throughout the whole demonstration. Ali Imdad who was on the programme with Christine and Howard will also be showing how he is influenced by flavours from his travels and his culture.

Former That’s Life presenter and now BBC Radio Berkshire presenter Bill Buckley will show his love of cooking once more. Also new for this year will be two masterclasses on butchery skills and chocolate making. Radio presenter Al Ryan will be Master of Ceremonies.

Inspired?

Excited to get cooking? Check out our recipes and get in the foodie spirit

Click here

LoLo app

Round & About

October 24, 2019October 23, 2019

How about being rewarded when you shop and eat? That’s the simple idea behind a new app – LoLo which has just launched in Reading.

The loyalty app encourages customers and businesses to be true to their high street and buy and eat at local retailers and restaurants.

And it couldn’t be simpler to use, all you need to do is download the app and you’ll get free access to £20 of ‘loyalty tokens’ to receive discounts at multiple participating businesses.

The mobile app has three functions: LoLo Local – for local high street retailers businesses, tradespeople and more all giving discounts by accepting local loyalty tokens; LoLo Eats – whether eating in or enjoying a takeaway at home there’s a discount to tuck into too; LoLo Mall – major retailers will offer exclusive discounts to members.

The app means shoppers enjoy discounts and businesses get to connect with customers to help them build creating vibrant communities.

LoLo co-founder and CEO, Ian Jones said: “The beauty of LoLo is the more local businesses and customers that join the free loyalty platform, the more they will all benefit.  Each time a customer makes a purchase with a local business using their loyalty tokens, they receive more tokens back that they can then spend again at the same business or redeem at another participating shop, mechanic, butcher or restaurant. LoLo is the gift that just keeps giving.

“Every time people spend money they are casting a vote on the future community they want. If we want vibrant local communities then we must support the local businesses who employ local people and pay local business taxes.

“When we spend money with international online giants we send the money away from our community and add to the local decline.

Supporting local businesses helps to keep the money circulating in our local community.”

You’re a winner and the business is a winner too – so what are you waiting for!

Download the app

Click here

Naturals wonders

Round & About

October 23, 2019October 23, 2019

Giant bird boxes, crocheted funghi and a striking metal sculpture are among the artworks you can enjoy as part of this year’s Heathland Artworks.

Now established as an annual event, all work is inspired by the RSPB Farnham Heath.

Local emerging artists studying craft, fine art and textiles at the University for the Creative Arts have explored the wildlife, geology and history of the heath all year to develop a series of artworks that are temporarily placed on Farnham Heath and incorporated into a walking trail.

This year pieces include giant bird boxes, crocheted funghi, ceramic birds and a striking metal sculpture. There is also the added bonus of The House of Invisible Hands by sculptor Walter Bailey and a result of his research into historical forest glassmaking locally.

Heathland Artworks is a Surrey Hills Arts project and provides a new way to view and learn about the heath. Visitors can get up close to each of the 12 artworks by following a specially created trail.

The project has given the students an invaluable experience in preparing a proposal, presenting this to a panel, and developing the necessary skills to create and install the works.

Surrey Hills Arts aims to engage and inspire people in the natural landscape through the arts programme, promoting heritage, health and tourism.

Programme co-ordinator for Surrey Hills Arts, Ali Clarke said: “It has been fascinating seeing the students develop their artworks in response to the wildlife and environment on the heath.

“The final pieces will be enlightening for visitors of all ages providing pauses for thought along the route.”

Heathlands Artworks is free to enjoy and open to visitors until 27th October at Farnham Heath which is next to the Rural Life Centre. Visitors are welcome to use the facilities.

For more information

Surrey Hills Art

Lions goodbye

Round & About

October 22, 2019October 23, 2019

There are just a few days left to join the Lion Trail around Windsor and Maidenhead before the lions and cubs head back to the ‘den’ ahead of the Lions Roar Goodbye weekend.

After three months the trail comes to an end on Sunday, 27th October when the lions will then go for a brush up before they are displayed in one large pride for the auction preview weekend on 9th and 10th November. The charity auction will then take place on 28th November.

Lion Trail maps are available from Windsor, Eton and Maidenhead visitor information centres and venues across the region.

All 46 of the lion and cub sculptures will be gathered in one pride at Windsor Yards, the former Fenwick store from 10am-6pm on Saturday, 9th November and 11am-5pm on Sunday, 10th November.

Visitors can also enjoy lion decorating, a lion artists’ exhibition, live entertainment from Lion King star David Albury, competitions, Windsor & Eton Brewery bar, lion merchandise and much more.

The Lions will then go to auction, coming under the hammer at Runnymede on Thames Hotel & Spa on Thursday, 28th November.

The dazzling evening will feature performances from Lion King and Motown musical stars David Albury and Cherelle Williams and fun activities including a Lucky Simba prize tree, an exhibition of images from Tusk’s Year of the Lion Photo Competition, pin the tail on the lion competition and a variety of fabulous prizes to win.

Eight of the smaller lion cubs are going back to the schools which sponsored them with the remaining 38 available to bid for. All profits from the event will be donated to Thames Hospice, The Lions Club of Windsor, Look Good Feel Better and Tusk.

For information

To find out more about the trail, the roar goodbye weekend and the auction visit the Lion’s of Windsor site

Click here

SOFO exhibition

Round & About

October 21, 2019October 21, 2019

Photo: Laurie Weeden Glider Pilot Regiment

Honouring and remembering at new Second World War exhibition at Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum

As Remembrance nears, there’s a very timely new exhibition of photographic portraits on display at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock.

The exhibition, titled 3945 Portraits, is the work of award-winning photographer Glyn Dewis and features portraits of Second World War veterans.

Glyn is leading an ongoing project to photograph Second World War veterans from all branches of the armed forces, and from a wide range of different regiments and corps, including the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

The portraits are on display until 5th January alongside recorded interviews with the featured veterans, recounting their wartime experiences, as well as a number of drawings produced by children as a ‘thank you’ to them.

The project, and the exhibition itself, is designed to “remember, honour and educate”. Glyn said he intends to “honour and remember our surviving World War Two veterans by photographing as many of them as possible in order to provide both them and their families with classic, timeless portraits they treasure and can remain in their families for generations to come” and “to sensitively educate the current and future younger generations about the events of World War Two and of those who served, survived and were lost”.

The exhibition opened on Saturday, 19th October with a number of the featured veterans present, and a surprise medal presentation for one of them. Two members of the Glider Pilot Regiment who were good friends during their service but had not seen each other since the end of the war, were also reunited during the launch, having both had their portraits taken by Glyn.

Glyn will also be running two 3945 Portraits project workshops on the 9th November and 7th December between 11am and 2pm. These will demonstrate how the portraits were taken using minimal kit and often in very limited space, showing how we can all create classic portraits without the need for all the latest and greatest equipment. Spaces can be booked on the SOFO Museum website.

The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum is open from Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 11am-5pm and Sunday 2pm-5pm. The county’s only military history museum is located in the grounds of the Oxfordshire Museum, Park Street, Woodstock.

For information

To find out about visiting the museum head to SOFO and for details about the portraits project, click below

The 3945 Portraits

IF Oxford

Round & About

October 18, 2019

From Friday 18th to Monday 28th October, the funky IF Oxford invites you to enjoy activities at more than 30 venues including the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, City of Oxford College’s Technology Campus and some great pubs, too!

October is your chance to explore cutting-edge research from world-leading academics, uncover big ideas and ask even bigger questions about science, humanity, the world at large and beyond.

There’s hands-on science for all ages at the Westgate Wonderlab on Saturday 19th and, at the Explorazone in Oxford Town Hall on Sunday 20th, find out how identical twins differ, discover the secret powers of super-hero worms and consider what the avatar you choose says about you while evil cyborg sea monsters take to the stage.

Build a robot to compete in a Robochallenge or enjoy Science at the Shops (Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th Oct; Templars Square); explore particle physics with Minecraft or use a smart phone to investigate human anatomy. The body is an extraordinary system – watch a powerful duet between Joel Brown of Candoco Dance Company and Eve Mutso, former Principal Dancer of Scottish Ballet in a beautiful performance called 111 (one hundred and eleven). 111 is the imaginary number of vertebrae that Joel and Eve have between them: Eve “moves like she has a hundred” while Joel’s spine is fused and he jokes he only has 11.

See the earliest animals on earth in an art exhibition (First Imprints, from 19th Oct), go “speed-dating for ideas” at Waterstones (24th Oct), or perform life-saving operations (in a board game) at the Old Fire Station (Mon 28th Oct).

With massive fossils being unearthed even now, hear the latest research on whether dinosaurs had colourful feathers and learn about fossilised dung (The Dinosaurs Rediscovered; 23rd Oct); explore time in an immersive multi-sensory performance (The relentless approach of better times; 24th Oct); experience an audio tour as Oxford’s “sonic landscape” reflects an environmental crisis (Only Expansion; 25th Oct); or save penguins (The Crowd and The Cosmos; 25th Oct) as you head to the edges of the universe with BBC astronomer and presenter of The Sky and Night Professor Chris Lintott.

Hold meteorites and moon rock (Apollo@50; 26th & 27th Oct); watch researchers battle for the Iron Crown (Fe Fi Fo Fum; 25th Oct), hear about new elements (Superheavy; 25th Oct) or enjoy escape rooms, comedy, poetry, music and more. The majority of events are free to enter. (Donations using a Pay What You Decide model.)

More info

For the full IF Oxford programme

Click here

Wear it pink day

Round & About

October 18, 2019October 19, 2019

Wear it pink is back! This October, Breast Cancer Now is encouraging everyone in Oxfordshire to wear it pink and help make life-saving breast cancer research and life-changing support happen.

Breast Cancer Now’s wear it pink day takes place across Oxfordshire today (Friday, 18th October), during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One of the UK’s biggest fundraising events, the event has had an enormous impact on the lives of those affected by breast cancer since launching in 2002 and has raised over £33million for breast cancer research to date.

Anyone can take part in wear it pink. Some people will choose to hold a cake sale, while others will opt to organise a raffle and some will arrange a pink fancy dress day at their school or workplace. No matter how people choose to wear it pink, all the money raised will help to fund vital breast cancer research and support.

Lottie Barnden, head of mass participation at Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now, said: “In 2017, in Oxfordshire around 584 women were given the devastating news they have breast cancer. In the same period around 111 women from the area sadly died from breast cancer.

“We currently fund around a third of all breast cancer research happening in the UK, and last year we responded to nearly seven million breast cancer support requests. Without the generosity of wear it pink supporters we simply cannot continue to fund this crucial research and support, for all those affected by breast cancer now, and in the future.

“That is why we are urging everyone across the UK to get involved in wear it pink on Friday, 18th October to help us make life-saving breast cancer research and life-changing support happen!”

Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now have united to create the UK’s first comprehensive breast cancer charity, united around the shared ambition that by 2050 everyone who develops breast cancer will live, and receive the support they need to live well. The charity cannot reach this goal without the money raised from wear it pink.

Wear it pink today and raise funds for breast cancer research and support. Visit wearitpink.org to find out what you can do to support breast cancer research this month and every other month.

For more information about the annual campaign to raise awareness of the disease and a free guide for women over 40, visit www.nationalbreastcancer.org

Show your support

Help to support the Breast Cancer Awareness Month by checking out these special edition pink goodies!

Click here

First aid in schools

Round & About

October 14, 2019October 16, 2019

After 10 years of campaigning by the British Red Cross, school children across England will learn lifesaving skills as part of the school curriculum from next year.

Pupils in state-funded schools will learn first aid from September 2020. Primary children will be taught basic first aid such as how to call the emergency services or how to help someone with a head injury while secondary pupils will learn lifesaving skills such as helping someone who is having a cardiac arrest.

Research by the British Red Cross found that nine out of 10 children agreed knowing first aid skills would make them feel more confident to help in a first aid emergency and that it was one of the most important lessons they could learn at school.

Another study revealed up to 59 per cent of deaths from injuries could be prevented if first aid had been given before medical services arrived.

One of those who has been championing the campaign is Marina Fogle, co-founder of the Bump Class and host of The ParentHood podcast. She is married to British Red Cross ambassador and adventurer Ben Fogle.

She said: “I’m delighted that first aid lessons are now part of the national curriculum. So many women I know, especially those weaning their babies, are terrified of the possibility of their child choking.

“You never know how you might act in an emergency, but children learning first aid could make all the difference if one of their younger siblings were choking at home.

“Now we have to make sure school children in the rest of the country – outside England – get the same chance to learn how to save a life.”

The British Red Cross is also relaunching its first aid mobile app so everyone can have lifesaving skills at their fingertips.

Teachers wishing to sign up to receive free British Red Cross resources that will support them to teach first aid can do so at www.redcross.org.uk/teach-first-aid

Find out more

For more information about a range of first aid tips

Click here

Sunday races

Round & About

October 13, 2019October 11, 2019

Today is clearly a good day to run with events taking place in both Oxford and Guildford, the half marathon and 10k, respectively.

The fast and flat 13.1mile course through the streets of the university city of Oxford takes in the colleges, museums and parks that mark out the route.

Runners will cross over the River Cherwell, out into the village of Old Marston and then back past the spectacular colleges. Live music, bands and DJs will be helping to keep their spirits up and if you’re not taking part go along and line the route and cheer them on.

Across in Surrey, Guildford’s first closed-road town centre run, the Guildford 10k, takes place.

Starting from the cobbled high street, run 5km or 10km towards Clandon and back before receiving a huge finisher’s medal.

Some 2,000 runners are expected to take part in the Guildford 10k, which raises money for local charity Harrison’s Fund raising money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

The event starts with a warm-up led by Field of Fitness training studio. The Mayor and Town Crier will then officially start the historic town’s first closed-road running race.

Porsche Centre Guildford will lead runners along the gently undulating “out-and-back” routes – which will be lined with local bands, a live DJ and spectators.

An experienced team of race pacers will encourage runners across the finish line where they can then enjoy a post-race massage.

Make time this half-term to follow the ghosts of Waddesdon along terrifying trails, carve a pumpkin or sink your fangs into some ghoulish treats.

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Enjoy great food & drink, fantastic cookery demos and magic at this year’s Didcot Food Festival on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th October.

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

How about being rewarded when you shop and eat? That’s the simple idea behind a new app – LoLo which has just launched in Reading.

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Giant bird boxes, crocheted funghi and a striking metal sculpture are among the artworks you can enjoy as part of this year’s Heathland Artworks.

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

There are just a few days left to join the Lion Trail around Windsor and Maidenhead before the lions and cubs head back to the ‘den’ ahead of the Lions Roar Goodbye weekend.

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Honouring and remembering at new Second World War exhibition at Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

From Friday 18th to Monday 28th October, the funky IF Oxford invites you to enjoy activities at more than 30 venues including the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, City of Oxford College’s Technology Campus and some great pubs, too!

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Wear it pink is back! This October, Breast Cancer Now is encouraging everyone in Oxfordshire to wear it pink and help make life-saving breast cancer research and life-changing support happen.

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

After 10 years of campaigning by the British Red Cross, school children across England will learn lifesaving skills as part of the school curriculum from next year.

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Today is clearly a good day to run with events taking place in both Oxford and Guildford, the half marathon and 10k, respectively.

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Wear it pink is back! This October, Breast Cancer Now is encouraging everyone in Oxfordshire to wear it pink and help make life-saving breast cancer research and life-changing support happen.