Our 10th April coffee morning was hijacked to become a surprise party for one of our more mature villagers - Hélène Thompson.  Some of us thought back to when Hélène was born ninety years ago.  In those nostalgic times the Churchill Arms was open, there were far fewer holiday lets and traffic rarely exceeded the speed limit.  Hélène is a well known and much loved local figure.  She served as a councillor in the Blockley ward, was chair of Blockley Picture Playhouse and was on the appeal committee which raised funds to restore the stopped clock in Paxford Mission Church in memory of Don Keyte who succeeded his father in the weekly winding of the clock for decades. We wish Hélène many more happy birthdays.

Fortified by the bacon butties and hot drinks kindly provided by Julie, six of us (Geoff, Jane, Liesl, Richard, Becky, and I) and a posse of dogs (Barry, Mary, and Joe) set out for Stretton-on-Fosse. Expertly led by Jeff, we wound our way through farms and fields in the face of occasional drizzle and a biting wind. The soft going slowed us down, but our spirits were high, the conversation was lively, and we were all happy to be outside for a change.

The Plough at Stretton gave us a welcome break. It also proved to be a magnet for Geoff’s things, which required a quick return trip to recover! Suitably refreshed we headed back to Paxford via Neighbrook and the long abandoned Ditchford medieval settlement. Along the way we negotiated sodden ground that threatened to suck my boots off, came across Jacob sheep and enjoyed the sight of Barry in determined but futile pursuit of a Roe deer! Back home again, a hot bath had never been more welcome!

Thanks again to Jeff for guiding us, and to everyone for being such good sports and terrific company.