BJnews

28th June
Emma Cross from Hamilton in the north island of New Zealand recently made contact with Abthorpe to carry out research into her ancestors. She found reference on a local web site of a poster produced by a Valentine Barford of the hamlet of Foscote in this parish, who had New Leicester sheep for sale that had been reared entirely in a natural state and were never allowed the slightest indulgence in the shape of oil cake or corn. Emma stated that she was actually descended from Thomas Barford 1766 – 1845, but believed it was a lot easier to find information about Valentine due to those famous sheep.

Now our churchyard is dotted with the graves of members of the Barford family. A brief search revealed the graves of three men, all called Valentine Barford, in a row close to the church’s north wall. When informed of this by e-mail, Emma promptly used Google Earth to fly over and have a look at the churchyard, but of course was unable to get close enough to read the graves’ inscriptions.

Inside our church a plaque commemorates one Valentine Barford who was an unwearied and successful endeavourer and early generous benefactor towards making this a separate parish from Towcester. But he died in 1746 too early to have been a brother of Emma’s ancestor Thomas. A local historian who has studied the Barford family explained that in the 1880’s farming in this locality was very bad. As a result, Emma’s grandfather Thomas Barford who was born in Falcutt close to the nearby village of Helmdon , emigrated to New Zealand where he died in 1945.

21st June
At the New Inn during the Grand Prix weekend it was a case of all hands to the pump to cope with the usual influx of welcome visitors from all over the country and abroad. The pump concerned dispensed, of course, Hook Norton ales to a thirsty clientele. On this, their first Grand Prix weekend since taking over the tenancy of the pub, landlords Rob and Barbara Smith, their daughter Sam, chef Stuart Pape together with other helpers that included Bob Belt, Hannah Linnell, Helena Pope, were rushed off their feet. But they coped magnificently.

Sam explained excitedly that on the Friday evening they had broken their record as 102 meals were served from the small but well equipped kitchen. The Saturday evening set another new record with over 120 meals being served.

Tony Clark and his father Dave from Caistor in Lincolnshire described how they had visited our pub at Grand Prix time for many years and had now known five landlords dating back to retired Sergeant Major Fred Huggins. They always had the same meal – ham, egg and chips, but declined to savour our ale as they believed proper beer should have a head, or froth on it. Tim Morris and his daughter Sophie from Retford in Nottinghamshire were staying at a local B & B and thoroughly enjoyed the ambience of the pub’s garden on the warm, mid-summer evening. Steve Dempster from Aberdeen and his friend Bob Gardiner of York were delighted to learn of ABHOTSPOT, a free Internet connection that is located in the pub courtesy of our little community owned company ABbA. They promptly downloaded e-mails onto their i-phones.

By Sunday lunchtime, with all the visitors over the track for the big race, the New Inn returned to some semblance of normality. After watching the Red Arrows perform from the pub garden, locals’ chatter turned to the implications for our local economy of the Grand Prix’s move to Donington in 2010. Opinions were varied but one hopeful theme stated that as the huge motorcycle grand prix is coming to Silverstone next year, our local economy would not suffer too much. But what was universally agreed was a vote of thanks to landlord Barbara and Rob Smith for the creation of such a welcoming hostelry for visitors and local people alike.

14th June
The village Barn dance was a huge success. Over 100 villagers and their friends, walked along the lanes to Abthorpe’s Highfield Farm, where farmers Elizabeth and Barry Haycock had kindly allowed the Village Fun Committee to use one of their large grain storage barns for the social event of the year. Members of the Fun Committee, all wearing sparkly cowboy hats, did a superb job ensuring that everyone enjoyed themselves. The country and western band, including its first class caller, insisted that as many people as possible took part in a wide variety of English, western and mainland European dances. The route along the lanes to the venue was lined with signs warning drivers that walkers would be passing that way after dark on their way home from the festivities.

The food was brilliant with Bunny Hutchings and his team roasting a whole pig over a roaring barbecue, whilst Dave Cunningham concentrated on ensuring that the sausages and burgers were cooked to perfection. The accompanying salads were delicious and a real credit to those who had prepared them. Fi Noble was in charge of the bar where soft drinks, wines and of course, this being Abthorpe, Hook Norton real ales were served to a thirsty clientele. Mike Partridge the newly elected Chairman of the Fun Committee thanked everyone for attending. He must be well satisfied with the great success of the evening.

3rd May
All the old folks of Abthorpe were recently invited to an afternoon tea. On the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures hovering around 27 degrees, 23 people sat in the cooling shade created by an ancient apple tree. A team of enthusiastic volunteers served a range of delicious home made cakes plus Fairtrade teas, coffee and biscuits kindly provided by the Co-operative’s community team. There was chat, laughter, friendship and reminiscences in abundance and a general determination that the tea should be repeated. A free raffle made sure that everyone went home with a prize.