Out & About December 2017

December dates for your diary

its way through the town. Father Christmas will see children from 11am - 4.30pm on both days. All children, 10 and under, will receive a free gift. Plus free face painting and lots of entertainment on both days  Sunday 10 Newbury District Ornithological Club A morning walk in the Combe area looking for winter farmland birds. All welcome, please call 01488 682301 for more details. Cromwell Singers concert, A Taste of Christmas , 7pm, the Croft Hall, Hungerford. Proceeds to Noreen’s Kids. Tickets £10 (including refreshments) available on the door. Great Thatcham Santa Fun Run, 5km starting and finishing in Thatcham Broadway organised by Thatcham Rotary Club to raise money for local charities. 11am start.Standard entry fee £15, students and under 18s £10, children under eight years £7. Every entrant will receive a Santa Outfit to wear and keep and a commemorative medal on completion of the course. You can enter on the day from 9am, Berkshire Family History Society, 7.30pm to 9.30pm, Shaw Church Hall, RG14 2DS. Christmas social and Nick’s quiz. All welcome. Free parking. Refreshments. Good company. Non-members are requested to make a £3 donation towards costs. Enquiries to newbury@berksfhs.org.uk or see www.berksfhs.org.uk Talking History: Jane Austen and the Military, 7pm-8pm, West Berkshire museum. Tickets £5 from the museum or online 01635 519562 Vivace Voices Christmas Concert, 2.30pm, St Mary’s Church, Thatcham RG19 3PN. Tickets £3 on the door – including programme and refreshments. All proceeds in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital  Thursday 14 Choir of 1,000 voices and late night shopping, 4pm to 8pm For one night only, Newbury will be alive with the sound of local choirs singing across the town before everyone gathers around the magnificent Christmas tree to recreate the choir of 1,000 voices. Newbury BID are providing entertainment for all the family with children’s rides, Christmas activity workshop, roving entertainers and donkey rides. Join in the big festive sing along in the Market Place, 7pm. Father Christmas will also be in his grotto for the evening, so pop along and tell him what is on your wish list  Friday 15 To Sunday 17, Community Christmas Tree Festival, St John’s Church, Newbury. Come and see the 20 decorated trees. Also open on online or at Kennet Leisure Centre. http://rotarythatcham.org.uk/id3.html Festival of Light  Wednesday 13

and sponsored by Newbury Bid. Entry fees after payment of costs will be donated to the Rosemary Appeal, The West Berkshire Therapy Centre, West Berkshire Mencap and other Rotary Club supported charities. Entry fee: Adults £15, under 18 £10, under eight £7. All runners will receive a Santa Suit and those that complete the run will receive an engraved medal. Registration and payment: www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page. php?PgID=668011&ClubID=556 Christmas Tree Festival , Memorial Hall, Upper Bucklebury, 1pm-4-30pm. Entrance free. Choose your favourite tree. Refreshments, stalls, children’s games and biscuits to decorate. 01635 863372 Pete Allen’s Hot Seven Jazz Band, 3pm,Chequers Hotel, Newbury. Tickets at the door £14.50 (Cash only) n Monday 4 Pelican Christmas Fair , 9.30am-5pm, The Vineyard, Newbury. Entrance £5 per person. Free prize draw & parking. Complimentary tea & coffee. Selection of stalls selling unique and affordable gifts. Original and inexpensive presents, luxurious goodies and scrumptious Christmas treats. Horris Hill School choir will perform Christmas carols. www.pelicancancer.org or contact: 01256 314746 | events@pelicancancer.org  Tuesday 5 Kintbury Wildlife Group A talk by Lesley Staves, Early Summer in Kyrgyzstan . Meeting starts 7.30pm in the Coronation Hall, Kintbury. £2 entry for non-members please. More details 01488 682301 Christmas Wreath Making, 10am and 6.30pm. Workshop lasts two and a half hours approx. Shaw House, Church Road, Newbury 01635 279279  Wednesday 6 Newbury District Ornithological Club AGM followed by a talk How Birds Work by Brian Clews. All welcome, meeting starts at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Church hall, Greenham  Friday 8 Hungerford Christmas Extravaganza Painting Ceramic Christmas Decorations, 10am-1pm, West Berkshire Museum, Wharf Street, Newbury. 01635 519562 museum@westberks.gov.uk And Saturday 9, Christmas wreath making with Kim Harrison, 10am-1pm, City Arts,

 Friday 1 Christmas Fayre , 6.30pm-8pm, 1st Wash Common Scout Hut, Battery End, Wash Common. Live band, BBQ, Stalls, Raffle, Christmas Gifts, Local Craft, Mulled Wine, and of course Santa. All proceeds to the 1st Wash Common Scout Group Hut Replacement fund. To January 7, 2018, Beauty and the Beast, pantomime Corn Exchange, Newbury. Box office 0845 5218218 Christmas Fair, St Michael and All Angels Lambourn, 5.30pm-8pm. Gift Stalls, Christmas Wreaths and much more Willow for Christmas, 10am-12noon, West Berkshire Museum, Wharf Street Newbury 01635 519562 museum@westberks.gov.uk And Saturday 2, Ladbrokes Winter Carnival Newbury Racecourse. Two days of Jump racing at the racecourse’s most-high profile meeting of the season. Winners on the day last year included Jenkins, Clan des Obeaux and Unowhatimeanharry, who followed in the footsteps of Big Buck’s, Inglis Drever and Thistelcrack in landing the Grade 2 Long Distance Hurdle.  Saturday 2 Selected dates to Saturday 23, Santa’s Grotto Santa Claus will be back in town and in his grotto by the entrance to Marks and Spencer in Parkway. Catch him on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3, and again from Thursday 14 until Saturday 23, before he has to nip back to the North Pole to load up his sleigh once more for his biggest delivery night of all on Christmas Eve. Free. Santa’s Grotto times, Monday-Saturday: 10am- 5pm, Sunday: 11am to 4pm Fabulous Bag with Linda Connell, 10am- 4pm, Old chapel textile Centre, Greenham Business Park. Back by popular demand, come and make this really easy yet stunning and unique bag. Keep it yourself or give it away as a lovely Christmas gift. £48 01635 38740 email octc@live.com Intermediate Kumihimo Braiding with Meg Crowther, 2pm-4pm, Old chapel textile Centre, Greenham Business Park. Take your braids up a notch by learning a more advanced pattern structure. Also learn how to finish your braid tidily ready to use for jewellery or crafts. £16 01635 38740 email octc@live.com Barfield Handbell Ringers, 3pm, St Mary’s Church, Thatcham. Yuletide Bonanza . Tickets, including light refreshments, £6 (£5 concessions, accompanied children free) available at Picture It, 17 High Street, Thatcham, email barfieldbells@btinternet.com, or on the door. See feature on p42  Sunday 3 5km (1km for children) Santa Fun Run, Newbury Market Place,10 am. Organised by Newbury Rotary Club Volunteers assisted

Hampton Road, Newbury. Book email: info@cityartsnewbury.co.uk  Saturday 9

And Sunday 10, Father Christmas at the Kennet Centre Father Christmas will arrive in style with a fleet of film cars and lots of other noisy, fun entertainment. The parade, on the Saturday, will start at 10am and make

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