Horley’s Christmas Market

Our fabulous candlelit Christmas Market is being held in St. Etheldreda’s Church on Saturday November 28th between 5 and 7pm. Thanks again to the Ladies Guild (and their little helpers) there are some lovely stalls booked, including home made produce, Christmas decorations,  mulled wine and mince pies and of course, Father Christmas and his Chief Elf will be in their grotto loaded down with presents.

Wonder if we will have Horley’s very own wandering minstrels to accompany us throughout the evening to help prepare for Christmas and get into the festival spirit???  See Pictures from last year

Horley Bell Ringers

On Remembrance Sunday 8th November a full peal will be rung between 14.00 and 17.00.  The band are experts so it should be high quality ringing.

What’s a peal…..?

A peal is when more than 5000 ‘changes’ are rung continuously and usually lasts about two and three quarter hours.   A ‘change’ is when the order of the bells is changed, so for example instead of ringing bells 1-2-3-4-5-6 in turn (called rounds), the order might become 2-1-3–4-5-6.  This is one ‘change’).    On six bells as we have in Horley, 720 different changes are possible, so to achieve the necessary number of changes for a peal,  the 720 changes will be rung seven times, each time in a different way.   As you can imagine, this requires great concentration and skill as there are no rests, breaks or swapping over ringers during the peal. 

Then there is a Horley practice on Friday 13th Nov from 7.30pm to 9pm and the Banbury Branch practice on Thurs 10th Dec from 7.30pm to 9pm

A Vanished Past:

Hope your enjoying this glimpse into Horley’s past? Some aspects have really changed and yet there is something enduring about our village community that still prevails today. I have worked with Clare Marchant to “look inside” her book(s) and share an overview of the contents, contributors and the stories of life in Horley earlier in the last century.  Posted so far are:

• A Vanished Past – What’s in the Volumes?
• A Vanished Past Vol.1 – Who Has Contributed, Who’s Missing ?
• A Vanished Past Vol 2 – Who Has Contributed?
• A Vanished Past – Introduction

Next we will look at the change during this period, the decline and regeneration, and take a “now and then” view.  There will be some stories of those that lived and worked in Horley in jobs such as a Cowman, a Oilman and a Farm Labourer. There will be a story by Clare’s sister that she wrote for her children about her life growing up here, a story of a couple who lived in Chapel Cottage and a actor of West End and movie fame.

Remember this is just a glimpse there is so much more, what a wonderful present it would be for Christmas, order now to avoid disappointment.

These extracts as from A Vanished Past (Vol 1 & 2), each Volume is £15 +P&P  or you can buy both for £33 incl. p&p.  They are available directly from Clare , Shaftesbury House, 15 Circus Street, Greenwich, London SE10 8SN or marchantclare@hotmail or call on 020 8858 8529. Cheques payable

Ironstone Benefice Horley Events

With Advent these days swamped by Christmas and its busyness we thought we’d try something a bit Adventish in the weeks before Advent officially begins.  We have three occasions of rather different kinds but all, we hope, helping towards a proper preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas and his coming at the end of time in judgement.

• Monday  9th there will be a session on Varieties of Prayer led by the Associate Vicar;
• Monday 16th the Revd Geoff van der Weegen, Prior of the Order of Anglican Cistercians, will consider with us Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s painting The Census at Bethlehem;
• Monday 23rd Karen Fairfax-Cholmeley, a member of Kairos Britain, which works for a just peace for Palestine, will talk about the organisation and the Palestinian situation.

All taking place in the Old School, Horley in November. starting at 7.30pm.  Admission is free and refreshments will be available. All good wishes, Hugh

And there’s more……

Want some tips on how to navigate and search all the content on our village website? Go to “About” and see the new page “Want Help Navigating?” Or just click here

All events that we are told about or pick up from Lucy’s submission go on to our calendar page, so if in doubt check it out, and as suggested if you don’t want to miss anything you can synchronise with your own calendar. You can also see what Lucy submits to the  Banbury Guardian,

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Thursday November 12th at 7.30 in the Old School House. See the Parish Council minutes  for information and remember to check the Notice Board page for general information you maybe interested in.

You can see all the photos on and off stage from A Midsummer Night’s Dream  (these can be found in Horley Footlights, under Groups), can’t believe it’s over a month since we did this.

The header photo is courtesy of Fiona Taylor and shared via Facebook, if you have any you would like to share you can always email them to horleyviews@outlook.com.

We really enjoy feedback, did you see “What a Wonderful Village Life” , do you have any ideas, information or memories that you would like to share?

Looking forward to hearing from you …….. Di (Marriot) & Deb (Fox)