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Updated 10 October 2024 - look in regularly to see what is happening!

2014

A Christmas miscellany - Christmas tree, carols and market at the Calleva; Santa made his annual trip around the village on a damp December evening and the traditional pre-Christmas carol singing in the Calleva.

Christmas Market in the Village Hall with entertainment by the Brownies

Farewell get-together for Richard and Robina.  

Reptiles gig and Air Guitar Championship - looking for pictures, please!


Armistice Day, Years 5 and 6 from Silchester school met battlefield guide Philip Pearce before the service at the War Memorial (thanks to Lesley for the pictures)

Remembrance Sunday saw the largest gathering for many years at the War Memorial

Bonfire Night celebrated 1 November with a lovely clear evening, lots of pumpkins and a great firework display in the grounds of Silchester House

Halloween saw a number of ghouls out and about

Group Sax - another great musical evening in St Marys.

Macmillan Coffee Morning in the village school - coffee, cakes, good company and a whole lot more!

Villagers walked the parish boundary on a beautiful late-summer Sunday, 5 October

28 September - Harvest Home hymns in the Calleva.

13 September - Beer Festival, music by Moonfly, a good chili supper and plenty of beer, cider and perry!

100 years since the outbreak of WW1 commemorated at the War Memorial on 4 August 2014.

The last dig supper  2 August - the village entertain the diggers and celebrate Prof Mike Fulford’s retirement.

Holiday Club 2014 - a fun week for a younger group of our community as the school summer holiday gets underway.

…and yet more Morris with no fewer than four sides joining us at the Calleva on 29 July.

..more Morris!  22 July, ‘Customs and Exiles’ and regulars Fleet Morris join the Calleva crowd.

Pirates -  12 July, the now-traditional charge across the common, possibly for the last time, followed by music and party at the Calleva.  At the same time Cantemus were in concert in the church.

Diggers and Dancers - Kennet Morris and Alton Morris teams entertain (and involve) both locals and the archaeology students starting work at the last year of the Silchester dig.  A fun July evening for all outside the Calleva.

Village Fete 2014 - what a day!  Glorious weather and the largest crowd we’ve ever had for the event. Bride and groom straight from the church, newly crowned Miss Berkshire,  Tadley Band, all sorts of dancers, Punch & Judy, 120 dogs entered for the various show categories, ferret racing, egg-throwing, welly whanging and so much more.

Silchester’s Got Talent 2014 - the annual PTA extravaganza showcasing yet again just how much wonderful ability our youngsters have.  Twentyfive acts of song, dance, instrumental performance and stand-up comedy with a very popular and rather different winner this year in Leah’s “Aerial Hoop”, an amazing acrobatic dance performance at altitude!

Mr Stanley’s Last Stand - for some years quizzes hosted by Tony Stanley have been a very popular local activity.  With the sad news that Tony and Jo are moving north we had a ‘Final Fling’ on 6 June in the Village Hall.

The Phoenix Club were entertained with music and song by school pupils for their May meeting.

The Kennet Morris Men were with us for a dark and wet St George’s evening but everyone still managed to enjoy the entertainment

Palm Sunday in Silchester - the thirtieth year , Roman soldiers, Alfie the donkey, lead this year by our own Canon Ken Batt in beautiful spring sunshine.  An early decision in February’s very wet weather meant we weren’t using the amphitheatre but a packed church with Tadley concert Brass and a dramatic presentation by school pupils provided a very fitting conclusion.

More from our school which said farewell to Headteacher Sue Elliott who retired at the end of term and celebrated Easter early with the PTA party, Easter Bonnets and entertainment for KS1!

Fair Trade Fortnight provided some good publicity for Silchester School’s achievements when they hosted a visit from Dorothy Agard, a Fair Trade banana grower from St Lucia who talked to a crowded hall about her growing and the community benefits of Fair Trade.  Pupils had all contributed to a range of displays and some splendid Fair Trade refreshments.

Not a village event but I promised that I would share some Northern Lights pictures from our trip to the Arctic, so here they are!  Some are taken at sea and some at Alta in northern Norway.  We had superb displays on four nights of the trip.  I have also included a magical Arctic Sunrise.

Dig Update - Prof  Mike Fulford presented his annual archaeological update to the village on 14 February in a packed Village Hall.

The Village Market was able to donate £500 towards the Village Hall redevelopment with a cheque presented to Jonathon Murdock at the February market.

Burns’ Night - a taste of Scotland with traditional haggis neeps and tatties was on the Calleva menu with a special Chinese New Year feast shortly after.

Happy New Year 2014!  Our now-traditional 1 January visit from the Kennet Morris Men was a soggy affair with little interest for dance in the very wet conditions.  However, an

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