Tequila Fundrise!

Once again The Pollicott Belles convinced Andy Dale, (Landlord of Gatehangers Inn, Ashendon) that it was a good idea to hand over his pub to our care for one night only - and so he did and so there was...Mexican Night hosted by The Pollicott Belles.

40 brilliant guests filled the bar and were treated to Annalise's nacho nibbles with a brave few starting the evening as they intended to go on with Vicky's tequila shots.

Build your Own Taco's by Sian kept our guests busy while in the kitchen the heat was on to prepare and serve the magnificent main: Alex's (con Steve) chilli with rice and tortilla and various alternatives (veggie by Vicky, no chilli etc.). As some determinedly battled through their massively generous chilli portions others enjoyed a quick round of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. With Freddy Holbrook in charge of tail sales this proved to be a quick cash generator.

 

As plates were cleared everyone enthusiastically joined in the Mexican Snap game and took the opportunity to sit with someone different as we served Vicky's fabulous puddings: a choice of chocolate brulee (wow) or grilled fruit kebabs with honey.

 

The final flourish came with the Piñata (containing the after dinner treats!). Now this was an eye opener as ordinarily kind and gentle guests turned into donkey bashers. Just look at the determination on their faces:

 

 

Throughout the evening a Mexican picture quiz was carefully pondered over by all - it was quite hard to find 25 questions and even harder to answer them but the Dutch contingent managed an impressive 14 points to scoop the top prize - a supremely naf Mexican Bell.

The raffle and more tequila shots continued to keep the funds rolling in for Florence Nightingale Hospice and with everyone being invited to donate an amount they felt reflected the value of their meal and the evening we raised a massive total of:

£1140

 

The Belles thoroughly enjoyed putting the evening together and we have had some lovely feedback but it was of course not wholly down to us. Firstly we say a huge thanks to all our guests for throwing themselves into the spirit of the night. Next we express our gratitude (and respect!) to Andy Dale for the loan of his livlihood and for donating the wine. Also thanks to Gill Walker for her unstinting help throughout the night and into the next day. Last (and of course not least) thanks to our boys for their moral support through our pre-planning sessions and for all their hard work on the night: Andy, Roger and Steve you are top gringos!

Roger and Andy the Bar Boys

Steve the Chef

Gill (with Alex) our behind the scenes rock (as well as chief raffle sales girl extraordinaire)

 

We now look forward to telling you all (in the next few blogs) about how our challenge walk went.

Clickety Click, Kerching, Kerching

On Friday 14th September Ashendon and surrounding villages (and a mighty fine couple from down Wiltshire way) made an impressive turn out for Belles Bingo night and helped us to raise an equally impressive £254.40p for Florence Nightingale Hospice.

Despite technical challenges Andy Dale ably called the numbers, checked the winners and kept the six games in line. We have to say Andy you have really got to grips with the fat ladies and little ducks, the Brighton Line and the blind things. We declare you the Belles top caller.

With wins for a first line and full house, a bonus second line on the final game and a well stocked raffle prize table we came close to declaring 'everyone a winner'.

We must thank Pelham Sparks of Westcott Club for lending us his number selection machine and for donating a supply of mighty fine bingo pens. The latter added to the evening in so many ways - we sold them, they added professionalism, Imo found them useful for decorating her bingo card and later in the evening we discovered they could be used for face decoration. Oh and they are indelible!

Andy sporting an indelible beard and dots.

With just over £400 in the fundraising bag we do, of course, feel more than obliged to complete the challenge. So on Friday 28th September Alex, Annalise and Sian will set off for three days to follow in the drovers footsteps from Faringdon to Oxford and Oxford to Brill.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far. To sponsor us on our walk please go to http://www.justgiving.com/pollicottbelles2 and please look out for details of our final fundraiser of the season which will be held on 19th October 2012 (put it in the diary - it's not to be missed!).

Beware of the Cows

When I heard Vicky wasn’t going to be available this year for The Pollicott Belles I kind of hinted to mum (Alex) that I’d be happy to step in of they needed someone else to make up the numbers. For two years I’d heard about tea and cakes, cups of coffee, and ice cream – it all sounded OK to me so I was pretty pleased when I was told I could join in for this years sponsored walk.

We set off from Pollicott at eight thirty on Sunday morning to walk down to Quainton to meet some other people who were doing an even bigger walk. An interesting experience what with cows that followed us through the fields and the road – this was the road where mum had her accident last year and this was the first time we’d been down there since then.

I thought maybe it would help to shoo cows away but well noticed by Alex and Sian it did look like I was praying to them – especially it being Sunday as well.

We stopped for a quick chat with some local residents safely knowing there were no cars or cows in sight.

When we reached Quainton we realised we had missed the Ashendon walkers so we sat down with an ice lolly and a refreshing drink to look at the map and plan our route home. Nearby there was a rather interesting take on violin playing from a near by house. This was what I was expecting – ice cream, drinks, and music.

On route home we came across a field with a rather large herd of younger horses. Working at The Horse Trust and loving horses as much as I do it became my job to guard Sian and Alex from them as they herded towards us in a rather excitable fashion. The Belles knew I would come in useful eventually.

Getting closer to home we ran out of map to guide us home, Sian was doing well to direct us back but mum was convinced she had hidden some directions in her bum bag.

We met a very friendly farmer who decided that maybe we looked a little lost and very reassuringly mentioned that the field we had just walked through just last week had a bull in it – well dodged I think from some of the reactions in the earlier fields.

Once decided that we already knew where we were going and the nice farmer had just told us what we already knew, I had my first piece of girlie advice from Sian. She happened to mention that when dealing with men you should act like you know nothing when really you know it all.

Taking a slight detour near the end of the walk as we had a little trouble finding the exit to the field we decided to cut the walk a little short and Andy met us at the end to give us a lift back home.

8.30 – 1.30, 5 hours for a 12 ½ mile walk. Not bad I think especially as we had to be all washed fresh and looking funky as we had a date with Lady Gaga at Twickenham rugby stadium at 7.

Sian and I looked particularly funky as we rocked the night away dancing along to the music and had a great time. Mum and Andy looking not so funky I think had a little snooze waiting for Gaga to arrive.

Was an absolutely great day and really looking forward to doing our walk later this month.

Annalise
xxx

A Warm Welcome at Florence Nightingale Hospice

And warm in every sense of the word. It was a beautiful late summers day when I headed over to Stoke Mandeville last Wednesday to meet Lindsey Fealey from FNH and the warmth of the day was easily matched by the warmth of the welcome I received from such lovely, caring, people.

With both Annalise and Vicky committed to work and Sian being dragged off at the last minute to a client meeting, I was admittedly a tad nervous about taking this initial introduction on my own, but Lindsey had me at ease within seconds.

As I entered the hospice at Stoke Mandeville I was immediately struck by the commitment and passion behind the work that goes on here, these are people who truly believe in what they do….and it shows.

The hospice itself is an incredible facility offering both ‘day’ and ‘residential’ care for the people who have come to rely on it so much. There is a great range of activities on offer including things like arts & crafts, hairdressing, and head massage, the hospice clearly goes to considerable lengths to make sure every day has something for everyone.

The memory that lasts in my mind is what I’d like to think of as a ‘secret garden’, a truly remarkable part of the facility. Somewhere at the heart of the hospice, surrounded by residential and care rooms, and the hectic world of Stoke Mandeville Hospital just a few steps outside, sits a garden full of the most vibrant colours. Open to the sky, with plants and hanging baskets surrounding you, the silence is only to be broken by the soothing sound of the water feature. This is a place where it is easy to forget why FNH exists, I couldn’t help feeling this was a very special place for so many people.

As my visit neared it’s end I was surprised to find that, what seemed like twenty minutes, had indeed been close to two hours – a truly remarkable facility that clearly means so much to so many people. As Lindsey handed me the FNH ‘T’ shirts for The Belles sponsored walk I knew we would be proud to wear them, to put something back into such a worthy cause and for our friend John Walker who cannot be with us.

Love and thanks,

Alex     x

                              The Belles in our new Florence Nightingale Hospice attire

Belles Bingo is Back

On Friday 14th September 2012 Belles Bingo will be making a big come back at Gatehangers Inn, Ashendon.

To be part of this exciting night out all you need to do is bag your Bingo Cards, get a drink and find a seat by 7.30 pm for eyes down at 8pm prompt.

Andy Dale has been practicing his clickety clicks, has his 2 little ducks in a row and is polishing his key to the door in readiness for his best performance yet. (Really!)

Alex has been touting and scouting around for prizes and there is little doubt that, as always, there will be something for everyone to win.

So, please come along and support us and help us to raise some funds for Florence Nightingale Hospice.

It really doesn't matter if you can't play Bingo - come for the fun of a Belles night out!

See you there we hope.

Sorry, no hand signals!

OK, before we get stuck into our weekend training adventure I’d better introduce you to Oli, the latest addition to The Pollicott Belles, who featured heavily in last weekends little experience.

Think Flower Power, Jimi Hendrix, Mamas and Papas, and you’ll be on the right lines -  Oli is Sians Volkswagon camper van, in bright yellow in case you might miss it.

Oli was brought into play on what was (so far) the hottest day of the year, as Sian and I set off to Worminghall. The plan was to give Oli a good run out and to get us to the start of our first serious walk of the new fund raising campaign for Florence Nightingale Hospice – The Clifden Arms.

Given this was the start of the days training our visit to The Clifden Arms involved only soft drinks….very much out of keeping with The Belles, but work to be done.

After a quick study of the map we decided to head off in what we thought was the direction of the pathway we were after, but ‘oh dear’ – lost after just thirty seconds. Not to worry though we headed in the direction of a friendly face sat having a drink outside of the pub but, not to be, before we could reach him he was up on his feet and off into the pub.

Just as we thought we’d lost our only hope of a ‘point in the right direction’ there was the friendly face – in the open window almost next to us. ‘Hi’ said Sian, ‘we’re looking for the pathway on this map’ she said, kind of holding the map up as if that might help jog his memory. As he began to explain the best he could we realised this window leads into the gents toilet – Sian was busy holding a map in her hand as it quickly became apparent this gentleman was holding something in his – and it wasn’t a map!

‘Sorry, no hand signals’ came the friendly voice, clearly trying to help us feel at ease with the situation we had managed to get ourselves into, I may have felt a little more at ease but I’m sure my red face was radiating more heat than the hot sun.

Eventually we did get on our way and once clear of the window and out of sight of the kind man, well, it would have been wrong not to have almost fallen over with laughter. Sian and I agreed…today was going to be a good day.

The map shows the route far better than I can explain it but the basic plan was to head off to Waterperry (cake here, so huge incentive for us to make good time), then make a circuit of around 7 miles, and head back to Oli at Worminghall.

I have to conclude that walking seems to be every bit as hazardous as bike riding, perhaps because Sians warning of 'watch the rabbit hole' took on less urgency at walking speed than perhaps it might had I been riding a bike. Anyway, I failed to 'watch the rabbit hole' until my foot was well and truly stuck and I was left fighting to maintain some balance. Fortunately it was a case of 'no harm done' and I walked away unscathed but I did begin to wonder how I might have explained a broken ankle to the consultant treating my arm injury from last year - I assured him we'd be doing 'safe fundraising' this year, not a bike in sight, to turn up to his next consultation on a pair of crutches might have been awkward.

As we arrived back into Worminghall I really did begin to worry about Sian. Alongside the wall of a local church someone had very thoughtfully placed a bowl of water for anyone walking a dog, a very kind gesture on such a hot day. As Sian headed straight for it and began to stoop down I really did begin to question whether it was wise to have gone out on such a hot day - what I didn't see from the angle I was at was the fresh cold water tap on the wall above the bowl. A moment of some relief I can assure you.

Oli was a welcome sight and, after 3 hours in the hot sunshine, we sat back and enjoyed a short rest before setting off back to Pollicott. It had been a fun day....can't wait until the next one.

Love

Alex x

Planning our Route

Our original plan was to walk from East Ilsley to Thame and Thame to Pollicott to follow the routes of our Pollicott & Ashendon forbears. This route, however, had a few too many issues (not least that we couldn't find really strong evidence of what that route was and also that a significant chunk of it is on The Ridgeway/Icknield Way and we have already cycled that). So, along with our charity shift, we have trampled all over our plans and decided to follow a known Drover's Road from Faringdon to Oxford and then from Oxford to Brill.

Finding the route is still no easy matter. From Faringdon we have a rough idea of the route to Abingdon which the following images help to illustrate. We will be carefully re-tracing this route on our OS maps over the next few days. We believe this may have been known as Southampton Street or Gloucester Street and that it came across from Monmouth.

Our final push we know will be an approach to Brill from Little London (see our previous blog) but the bit in between Abingdon and Little London is still more than blurry.

There are a few enthusiasts around whom we hope to track down to pick their brains. Bruce Smith of Syresham if you read this please drop us a note. Bruce is on the WI speaker circuit so any friends with access to WI speaker lists please help us to find an email for him. We have also been given a local contact near Brill who we hope will be able to help us piece together our journey. Any other contacts or suggestions will be gratefully received.

Please watch out for more news of our route plan and of our fundraising efforts over the coming month. For anyone who would just like to make an online donation to Florence Nightingale Hospice, we now have a justgiving page set up: http://www.justgiving.com/pollicottbelles2

Our walk begins in less than 7 weeks!