Damaris Biffen
There is sad news that Miss Biffen as she was known to so many Chearsley children, who would now be around the age of 40, has died. Adelina Lilias Damaris Biffen, eldest sister to Blanche, Rhoda and Grace, was a very much loved and respected head teacher of Chearsley School from the mid 70s for about 10 years. Her family have written that Damaris’s health had deteriorated for a few months and she was looked after by her family with love and devotion in Bourne End. She was 94. Her funeral and Thanksgiving service at Granville Street Church, Aylesbury has taken place.
Chearsley school had been under threat of closure in 1973 when pupil numbers had been halved due to a change in the leaving age from 11 to 8, but with the arrival of Miss Biffen, the school developed well and children numbers increased to 27 in 1979. Unfortunately, after Miss Biffen left, a final threat of closure succeeded despite a campaign by governors, parents and the local MP to keep the school open, and Chearsley school closed in 1988. Donations can be made in her memory to Tearfund, a charity Damaris supported and believed in. Log on to the justgiving website, and the donation page will come up by typing in her name and where there is a photo of her.
Reporting a pothole - there is now a link to BCC transport for Bucks permanently displayed on the village links section on the main web page.
Bingo at The Bell
A very good cash prize of over £70 went to a lucky customer for the final full house of the evening on Monday’s October bingo evening at The Bell and the Snowball Game prize has now reached nearly £180. £45 went into the charity pot from the proceeds of the raffle. Next month’s Bingo night will be on November 1 with Eyes Down at around 8.30pm. Come and try your luck for some very good cash prizes and a lot of fun. Have a meal beforehand at a special price for bingo players.
What’s On At The Bell in October
- The Friday night game of Higher or Lower has now finished when over £800 was won by a lucky customer and a new game called Domination will start this Friday October 14.
- Coffee and Cake Friday mornings are becoming increasingly well supported and enjoyed when The Bell is open from 10am for coffee and homemade cake, welcoming anyone to call in as an informal way of chatting to and meeting new villagers.
- Calendar Boys - The much heralded calendar of Chearsley men will be launched in The Bell on Friday October 14 at 8pm. All proceeds of the Calendar, costing £10 will go to the new village hall fund. Advance orders can be made with Antonia at antoniacarrlock@hotmail.com.
- Spot The Bot - As a sideline of this, there is a photo on the bar counter of an unknown Chearsley male diving into a swimming pool and you are invited to guess his identity from the evidence provided in the photo, It costs a £1 to have a go and the winner will be the first correct entry pulled out of the pot to win a bottle of bubbly.
- Halloween Disco - Saturday October 29 there will be a Halloween Disco when spooky costumes will be welcome, if not obligatory, followed by a
- Kids Halloween Party - on Monday October 31. More details of this later.
- Tuesday Curry and a Pint evenings for £10 and Thursday Burger Nights for £9.95 will continue to be on offer throughout October.
An Austin 12/4 London taxi belonging to Ian and Julie Smith of Kingswood was the winner of this award at the recent Classic Car show held at Chearsley cricket club. They were awarded the trophy and a bottle of vintage port by Fred Crawford at a small reception at the cricket pavilion. Their prize-winning vehicle was built in 1933 and used as a taxi in London until the outbreak of war in 1939 when it was used by the London Fire Brigade as an auxiliary fire tender to transport hoses or pull water pumps. After the war, it returned to taxi life until in 1952 is was exported to Canada. It was returned to England in 1995 to be restored and used as a wedding car until 2014 when it was acquired by Ian.
The committee of the Classic & Vintage Fun day thank all those who attended and especially the 30 or so volunteers who helped out on the day. Over £5,000 - which is almost double last year’s figure - was raised, which will be used primarily for the development of Junior Cricket to purchase kit and equipment and improve the coaching resources for the 100 youngsters on the club’s books. It will also enable improvements to be made to the fabric of the pavilion including much need additional storage space. The date for next year’s event is Sunday September 10 and feedback with ideas for improvements are welcome. Go to ccvfd.co.uk for photos and more information.
Cricket Club Dinner and Dance
This will be held at a new venue this year at Magnolia Park Golf Club on Saturday November 19 at 7 for 7.30pm. Tickets cost £35 per head (the same price as last year) for a 3 course dinner and dancing until 1am. Please contact Angela or Claire for menu choices and if you would like to book a place on the coach from Chearsley. Email angela@grayemail.co.uk or clairesamp@aol.com.
Volunteer of The Year
More Cricket News from John Howard: “Adam Lazaruk is on a short-list of 3 to win the Volunteer of the Year 2016 in The Bucks and Milton Keynes Sports Awards. 3 candidates were selected from over 100 nominations and the winner will be announced at a black tie dinner at The Waterside Theatre on Friday November 18. As many will know “Laz” has played a massive part in getting Chearsley Cricket Club to where it is today. He has been closely involved with the club from its “rebirth” in 1989. He has been our 2nd XI (Dream Team”) captain since 2003 and has been a driving force behind the development of our successful Juniors section, which currently boasts over 100 youngsters in its ranks. He takes up near permanent residency at our club during the summer months, whether it is playing cricket, leading the Dream Team to victory, coaching the juniors, serving beer to thirsty cricketers, flipping burgers, helping get pitches ready, fundraising ...you name it, Laz does it.
When he finally gets home, he assumes the role of the Cricket Club webmaster/facebook poster/tweeter. He was also instrumental in the club securing a Community Chest grant, which enabled us to go ahead with the installation of the “state of the art” practice nets this summer. Laz, we are all deeply in your debt for the selfless devotion shown to our club which now has a “beacon” status in our happy village community. We shall all be rooting for you on Friday November 18 and whatever the outcome, champagne corks will be popping on the following evening at our Dinner and Dance”. Congratulations to Adam and good luck for November 18.
Refuse Collections: Wednesday October 12 when the green lidded general refuse bins and food bins will be collected
Church Services at St Nicholas:
- Sunday October 16 Holy Communion at 9am
Diary Dates:
- Friday October 14 Chearsley Boys Calendar launch at The Bell at 8pm
- Monday October 17 Parish Council Meeting at 7.30pm in the village hall
- Saturday November 12 Bette Davis On the Edge Charity Evening at The Bernard Hall, Cuddington Ring Liz Davies on 01844 299150 for tickets
- Saturday November 19 Cricket Club Dinner and Dance email Angela Gray or Claire Lazaruk
- Saturday November 26 “ Murder at The Manor” with The Thame Players at the village hall. Fund raising for the new village hall. Tickets £15 to include 2 course dinner. Email chearsleyvillagehall@hotmail.co.uk
- Saturday December 3 11am to 1pm Elevensies in the village hall with Christmas food and crafts to buy
